Can't Keep From Falling
by VirKatJol
Summary: Lives get flipped around when Cam and Vala try for #4 and Adria discovers something about her origins. part 5 of Adria Series
1. Chapter 1

"Dad?"

He looks up from his book and see's their oldest daughter lingering in the doorway. "Hey, Addy. What's up?"

"I was just starting on my homework…" She shrugs when he shakes his head. "I need to get a sample of DNA from you and mom."

Cam sets his book down. He's shocked. The fact that it's eight am on a Saturday and Adria is already up and working on her school work isn't what does it. It's the fact that he can't give her that sample.

"Well…" Vala's still lightly snoring next to him and he's sure that Tyler and Lyra are both also fast asleep. "If we are really careful we can pluck a couple strands from mom and she won't even notice."

Only mom though. Not him. She's only 12. They aren't planning to tell her yet. He's so afraid of losing his girl.

She giggles and quickly hides her mouth behind her hands to not disturb Vala. Adria leaps onto the bed and Cam caches her and clasps her waist as she hovers over her mother's head. Her small hand reaches out and she grabs two strands and yanks.

Vala jumps and yelps. "What?" Her hand is rubbing at her head as she rolls over to look at her husband holding the oldest child on his lap. Strands of dark hair, that used to be attached to her head dangling from a clenched fist.

"Good morning, momma." Adria tips her head and beams her largest grin at her.

"Most good mornings don't start with hair being viciously torn from my scalp." Her overly dramatic description makes Cam and Addy laugh and she sticks her tongue out at them. "What's that about?"

"I've got to run a DNA test." She grabs the tiny ziplock bag she's brought with her and carefully puts Vala's hair into it. "Your turn, Dad."

"No. No test for dear old dad. He's got to keep all the hair he can to hold off the inevitable balding."

Vala rolls her eyes. "Like Daddy really has to worry." She reaches up and runs her fingers through Cam's hair - still, true to her words, as full as ever and soft under her fingertips. "Not about going bald, at least. I do see a hint of gray..."

Cam tries to act un-phased but he gets up under the pretense of going to the bathroom and stops in the mirror to check his hair and see if she was lying about the gray. He hears Adria and Vala both snickering behind him.

He turns and points at them. "Remember who makes the pancakes around here before you go making too much fun."

Adria and Vala both school their expressions to something more respectful, but as soon as he shuts the door behind him it's all giggles again.

xxxx

By ten am their kitchen is bustling. Tyler and Lyra are loudly arguing over what cartoon they'll watch once they've had breakfast. "Dad, she wants to watch baby stuff!"

"Ty, bud, you had it first," Cam points out, pouring five glasses of orange juice.

"But that's because I woke up first!" Tyler looks at Vala, hoping his mother will be on his side. "Mom, the ones with the trucks is coming on! That one's my favorite."

"Mom, the one with the ponies is coming on! That one's my favorite!" Lyra looks at Vala with a wobbly lower lip, eyes filling with tears.

"Mooooom!" This time it's Tyler. "She always cries to get her way!"

"So do you," Adria points out, nibbling on toast with a textbook in front of her. She doesn't look up from what she's reading when she says it.

"One of you can go watch TV in our room." Vala decides that the chance of stray crumbs and having to change the sheets later is better than listening to them argue. However both of them squeal at the idea of cartoons in the big bed and race upstairs. "Great..." She mutters to herself.

"It was a pretty good solution, mom. But you didn't take into account all the variables. Like the comfort level up there versus the couch or the treat factor." Adria's still concentrating on her homework. She's in an advanced science and math class at the high school instead of her middle school work. She's stuck with her friends in the proper grade level but the classes weren't challenging her enough so as soon as she was in the complex that was walking distance, across a park, to the high school Cam and Vala enrolled her in a few upper level courses.

"Sometimes I wish my first child wasn't a genius." Vala ruffles her hair as she gets up to help Cam with the dishes. Adria is still grinning over her textbook. "Darling Cameron, do you need any assistance?"

She's wrapped her arms around his waist and his arm has automatically circled her shoulders. "I'm good, baby, if you have things to do."

"I was just going to make sure that they haven't killed each other or destroyed our lovely room."

He kisses the crown of her head before letting her go. "Don't tell me you wouldn't love the excuse to redecorate."

"Why, Cameron, you don't-" His pointed look makes her grin. "I might enjoy redecorating but not at the expense of our comfortable, quiet mattress.

"Mom!" Adria scolds from the table. "I'm still here..."

"Oh dear, We should be having that talk soon." She kisses Adria's cheek after she walks past her to head up and check on the younger two. Her face is flushed because she knows what was being hinted at even if she doesn't completely understand everything. Vala winks at Cam over Addy's head before jogging up the stairs.

"You're mom just likes to tease you." Cam grabs a mug of coffee and sits down at the table with Adria. "Although..."

"Dad, I've been through fifth grade... I don't need the... The talk." She's redder as her face heats up. Talking to your mother about sex is one thing but your dad...

"I won't embarrass you more, but if you ever need me for anything. No matter how uncomfortable or awkward, I want you to know I'm here for you, honey."

"Thanks, Dad, I know... It's just..."

Cam gets it. He remembers his mom giving him the run down on sex and girls and how he wanted to die. He makes the choice to switch subject. "So what's this project about?"

"Genetics. We're supposed to have samples from both parents." She looks pointedly at him, and Cam wishes he hadn't asked. Of course she won't just drop it.

He tries distraction again. "How about some ice cream?"

"I'm not even done with breakfast, Dad." She rolls her eyes at him. "Try that on Tyler or Lyra."

Cam reaches over and steals a piece of her bacon in retaliation for the smart remarks. "They'll let you by with just one."

Adria begins to feel uncomfortable with her father's attitude toward this. "Why don't you want to, Dad?"

"I have a deathly fear of my hair being pulled." He leans over and kisses her forehead then gets up, leaving his hand resting on her shoulder. "I'm going to save your Mom. It's been five minutes and I haven't heard any noises, I'm fearing the worst."

"Aunt Sam's taking me to the museum later, don't forget!"

"I won't, trust me. We're babysitting Aiden."

Adria grins. "I think he's funny."

"You don't have to pay for the repairs every time." He squeezes her shoulder and walks out of the room, going upstairs. He finds Vala in the middle of their big bed, Lyra on one side of her and Tyler on the other.

"Mommy made us watch her cartoon," Lyra says, but she doesn't seem too upset over it.

"Well, I guess that's fair in your mom's world." They've all just sort of come to accept Vala logic. In the cases of the younger and more impressionable ones, it's just a way of life - and one they're prone to adopting themselves. "Hey, can we..."

He nods outside.

"They're gonna go kissy," Lyra says, giggling. Vala bounds out of bed with energy that rivals her children's and gives Cam a big smooching kiss. Tyler and Lyra both shriek with amusement and exaggerated disgust.

"So we've been run out of our room, and Adria's downstairs..." Cam leads Vala into Lyra's room. It's purple and white and silver, with artwork on the walls and a mural of unicorns drawn by Adria.

Vala absently makes the bed before they sit down, pulling Lyra's stuffed penguin to her chest and looking at Cam. "You are such a mom," he says, leaning over and kissing her. It's only meant to be a quick peck but she leans in and he forgets to pull back. Eventually he remembers that he had something to say to begin with and sits back again. "Addy's still trying to get me for that genetics test. Do you think you could call the school and have them talk to her? Come up with some reason why she can't participate? Or just..."

"Just what?" Vala knows how troubling this is, and she's worried herself, but she's not sure what she can do. "Have them secretly doctor the results?"

"Well..." He looks down briefly and Vala realizes that the thought actually had crossed his mind.

"We'll think of something," she promises him, not wanting him to worry.

Cam's sure that all of this will go south before he can get control of the situation. It's already caught him off guard.

"Maybe we should tell her..." His heart already aches with the thought. He loves her. Loves her fiercely, as if she were his own. He forgets that she's not most of the time.

"Do you want to?" Vala's leaving all the decisions regarding this up to him. Her poor, dear, husband who's going to be heartbroken by the reaction Adria has. "We've got a couple years yet... until the point we've agreed on."

"I just..." He pulls her into his side, head on her shoulder, nose pressed to her neck. Her scent grounds him a little. "I don't want her to find out on her own. I think... I think that will be far worse."

"She won't find out. We'll figure this out. I'll call the school on Monday." Vala strokes her fingers through his hair and just lets him cuddle into her for a while. She doesn't envy him, having to make this sort of call. She's lucky that all three children are hers, biologically. She'd give anything to make that the case for Cameron. "You're making me miss my cartoon, you know?"

She feels him grin against her neck and knows that her comment has effectively lightened the mood. His lips part and he starts kissing and nipping at her skin.

"I've got better things to offer than some animated action." He lets his tongue trail upwards, tasting the salt of her flesh. His lips find hers again and they kiss, more passionately than the last time. He's seeking something else. Another type of comfort.

"I don't think that Lyra's bed is the best option for the activities that you're imagining." Vala lets him kiss her some more and returns the affection with equal enthusiasm. Her fingers play behind his ears and she knows it's unfair, touching his most sensitive spots, but she's never played fair before.

"We need a vacation." Cam's breathing hard as he pulls back, she's not unaffected either. Her breasts are heaving as she sucks in oxygen. "One without the children."

"We just had sex..." She's about to say when but then she realizes that she doesn't remember. Her eyes meet his and the look she gets tells her that he can't either. "We need a vacation." He nods.

Vala's nipples are pert under her silk pajamas and it makes him harder than he already was. "When do your parents get back from theirs? They are bound to be dying to get the children alone by then."

Cam loves how she thinks. "Another two weeks I think."

"How much do you think we'd have to pay Samantha to take all of them out?" Vala asks, leaning back on the bed and pulling Cam down beside her. He rests a hand on her flat stomach, just underneath her pajama top, fingers playing on her skin.

"Not enough money in the world, sweetheart." He kisses her temple, letting his face just rest there against hers, breathing her in. "But we can still try."

"Perhaps we could play up the 'but you've been lonely' angle..." Vala says, referencing the fact that Daniel's been offworld for almost three weeks. "No chance to be lonely with that bunch running around."

"Not a chance," Cam agrees, grinning. It's one of the things that he loves - that their house is full of noise, laughter and happiness, sometimes tears and screaming, but all very much reminding him that he's home.

"I think it's been three weeks," Vala says, seemingly out of nowhere. She sees his confusion and clarifies, "Since we've had sex. Adria was at a sleepover, and Lyra was sick and the cold medicine put her to sleep, and-"

"Tyler'd had a soccer game and he was beat, passed right out as soon as we got home." Cam grins remembering the blissful night of no interruptions.

"We should take a vacation somewhere offworld," Vala says. It's the first time she's made such a suggestion and it catches Cam off guard. He's worried often in the past that she'll get restless here with them but even now as she says it she doesn't seem wistful, exactly.

"Offworld? Any reason?" He asks, trying to sound casual and not accusatory.

"Because it's faster to get back through the stargate than a car or an airplane, if something goes wrong" she says, and he wants to kiss her again out of relief - so he does. "What was that for?"

"I love you," he says, leaving it at that so he can kiss her again, long and slow. She wraps her arms around his neck and he shifts over her, her chest pressed against his, supporting his weight above her.

"We'll, that's a relief," she teases, mouth still against his in a kiss that doesn't seem to end, just sort of fluctuates in intensity. "I was certainly wondering."

He knows she's joking but glances at her eyes just to make sure. When he's reassured he shoots back, "Yeah, well, I was on the fence for a while."

She snickers and swats him on the butt.

Three weeks is a long time. Besides when she'd just given birth he doesn't know if they've ever gone that long. He must have a look of concern in his eyes.

"It's time, darling, not interest. I'm very interested still..." Vala licks at his lips before taking them with her own again. God, it's been so long since they've just kissed like this. Kissed and talked. Sometimes she misses the days of children that could still be put to bed at six. She puts a hand on the nape of his neck and kisses him more fiercely.

"Momma!" Lyra's looking in on them when they break apart and glance towards the summon, "That's my bed!"

She's bounding over to them and pops into her bed with them, trying to get into the middle of all that cuddling.

"Yes, well, ours was being used." Vala just nonchalantly answers back as they make room for their smallest child. "Were you not just watching cartoons on it?"

"Yeah, but I got bored without you too so I came to bring you back." She seems to recall that her father is there as well. "You can watch too, daddy."

Cam kisses her temple. "Do I get to snuggle mommy if I do?" He holds back a laugh as Lyra rolls her eyes at him.

"Course not. Tyler and me gets mommy. You get her every bedtime. When we are awake it is our turn." Lyra's so matter of fact about it. She's getting impatient for her mother so she slides off her bed and grabs Vala's hand. "Lets go." The O in the word is long and drawn out.

"Looks like you've got plans." He kisses her again before letting her up, much to the chagrin of Lyra who huffs her annoyance. "How come I'm never in on these plans?"

"The children clearly love me more." She just teases and he can see it in her eyes, but Lyra is quick to his defense.

She never wants her daddy to feel like she doesn't love him. "That's not true, mom! We love you both the same." Now she feels a little bad about it all. "You can snuggle momma if you want to when we watch, daddy."

He gets out of bed and picks up his wisp of a five year old. Her cheek is still pink from sleep and he peppers it with kisses. "That's alright, daddy has manly things to do."

She giggles and squirms until he sets her down. "Better tell Tyler, he likes to do those kinda things."

Vala mouths over her head. "Manly things?" There's a smirk on her face and a disbelieving tilt to her head.

"Gotta mow the lawn, fix something, build something and drink beer. Man things."

"So many specifics in your manly things. Well, I have to watch cartoons with my two babies." Vala kisses Cam's cheek as she goes by him. "But if you need any help cleaning up after said man things..."

"You'll be the first to know."


	2. Chapter 2

Cam actually does manage a few manly things - okay, mostly just mowing the lawn. Almost an hour later Tyler and Lyra have grown bored of their cartoons and dragged Vala out into the backyard to play on their playset. It wasn't a hard sell for Vala once she realized that Cam was outside growing hot and deliciously sweaty in his efforts at manual labor.

So while everyone else is busy outside, Adria lets herself into her parents room. It takes some hunting but she finds a hair in the bathroom, stuck between the teeth of the comb he uses. Feeling victorious, Adria puts it in a different little baggie and runs to store both samples securely inside her backpack, shut in her biology textbook.

With her homework done and genetics assignment materials secured, she heads outside to join the rest of her family.

xxxx

Vala's sitting on the playset with her feet dangling while Lyra and Tyler play around her. Adria's even joined in, which is a relief to Vala; she knows her daughter is almost a teenager and certainly remembers the attitudes she had toward her parents when she entered those years, but she likes that there's still a child in there.

She also likes that all of her children have the chance to be children. She treasures that, finds it a precious thing, and would go to untapped depths to preserve this for them.

But right now that's the last thing on her mind. Right now, Cam's wearing a wifebeater and jeans and all Vala can think is that it's been three weeks since they've had sex. She's practically drooling staring at him - biceps bulging as he pushes the mower, sweat dripping down the side of his neck, right along that tendon that she loves to lick...

"Mommy look I go high!" Lyra shrieks, wiggling a couple feet above the ground on the hanging bars. Vala glances her way with a big encouraging smile but then the mower stops and her head jerks back around to watch with rapt attention as Cam bends over to check something on the machine.

"Dad looks hot, Mom," Adria comments. Vala nearly chokes, but it turns into a laugh when Adria adds, "Maybe you should go get him some lemonade or something so he can rehydrate. He's sweating a lot."

"Oh... yes. I should do that," Vala says, laughter still in her voice. Cam glances over at her, raising a questioning eyebrow. She just grins and waves back at him. "You know, I think perhaps your father does look a bit... hot."

"Mom, that's not how I meant it!" Adria makes a total 'yuck' face.

"Yes, well, that too. In fact, he might need to go inside and cool down for a minute. Would you watch your brother and sister?" Vala hardly waits for an answer, just pushes herself off of the play set and hops down, walking over to Cam.

"Hey, baby," Cam says, straightening back up. "Think something got stuck in the blade. Tyler's not missing another action figure gun is he?"

"It's always a possibility. Those G.I. Joe's are quite careless with their weaponry. Your actual government would _never_ stand for it." Vala gives a dramatic sigh, but then quickly gets back on course with her mission. "Your daughter is worried that you'll expire from heat exhaustion if I don't take you inside and cool you off."

"My daughter is worried, huh?" He eyes flicker over to where all three kids are playing now. "Yeah, seems real worried."

"Well, she _was_," Vala insists, unperturbed. "She's just confident in my ability to care for you. Now, we wouldn't want to disillusion her, would we? You'd better just come inside with me."

She reaches down and takes his hand. His fingers are damp and warm and the touch sends a thrill through her. She wants those hands on her.

He lets her pull him inside and as soon as the door is shut, she turns around to kiss him. Unfortunately, he really is thirsty and heads over to the refrigerator to get something to drink. Vala pouts in disappointment. Cam catches the expression and knows exactly what it means. "You can't be serious, honey. I'm disgusting right now. I need a shower. I smell-"

"Like a man," Vala says, walking over to him. She puts her hands on his shoulder, feeling the dampness of sweat, and leans in to lick his collarbone. "Clean, and delicious, and _mine_."

Cam still isn't sure what the appeal is but he's not really going to question anything that makes Vala want to lick him. He steers her around until her back so to the fridge, reaching out beside him to put down his glass of lemonade. His hands go around her waist, thumbs rubbing against the dips in her hipbone. "Yours, huh?"

Vala bites her bottom lip and nods at him, pulse quickening. The reaction isn't missed by Cam. He reaches up with one hand and pushes her hair back from her shoulders, trailing his fingers over her neck. She's wearing a tank top too, and khaki shorts just long enough to not be indecent, though with Vala's legs Cam figures she can make pretty much anything into something indecent.

His lips finally find hers and he pulls her to him sharply. She gasps and it opens her mouth nicely against his, something he takes full advantage of.

Until the door bangs open. To Cam's credit, he doesn't even quite stop kissing her then, but a disgusted whine by their littlest princess finally puts an end to the impromptu makeout session.

"We wants lemonade too, Mommy," Lyra says. "Stop making smoochies! Come play!"

"Oh my god, when did she get so bossy?" Cam mutters, moving back so Vala can open the fridge. She looks at him with a very cute pout on her face - one that looks so much like Lyra that he has to snicker.

She puts some juice into the cup for Lyra who downs it and smiles asking for more. "Water this time, baby girl." Lyra pouts but nods and takes the water. "Sam will be here soon with Aiden." She motions for Cam to go get cleaned up.

"You want me in here sweaty and now you want me to go shower..." He pulls her in for another kiss before heading up. "If she gets here before I'm down talk to her about that thing."

"What thing, mommy?" Lyra's always listening and wondering what it going on around her. She's a very nosey five year old. "Tell me!"

Vala leans down and touches her nose to Lyra's with a grin. "Well, nosey girl, we wanted to take a break from our horrible children so we were going to see if we could pawn you off on auntie Sam for a day."

Lyra loops her arms around her mothers neck and gets pulled up with her. She wraps her legs around her waist as they walk back outside. "We're not horrible childrens. We are good."

"I guess you're only terrible, not horrible." Vala pretends to ponder the difference and then nods as if she's made a proper choice. "I'm sure there will be lots of begging on my part."

"Nooooooooo..." Lyra lays her head on her shoulder. "Auntie Sam loves us. Specially when we bother uncle Daniel."

"Oh, I bet she does. Uncle Daniel is quite fun to bug, isn't he?" She makes it back to the swing set and drops Lyra off on one of the platforms. "Adria, honey, you ready for Sam?"

She comes racing around being chased by eight year old Tyler. "Yeah, is she here?"

"Not yet, but make sure you've got your backpack ready." She reaches into her pocket. "Here's some money for something you'd like plus admission."

"Awwww, Mom!" Tyler rushes over. "I wanna get something too!"

"Are you going to go to a place where learn things and buy something educational?" The face he makes gives him away. "That's what I thought."

Vala surprises him with a hug and kisses his cheek. He squirms and runs off yelling something about mom cooties. Adria's laughing at him and Lyra's on her own playing on the monkey bars.

"He's always all about mom until it hits about 10 am, then I suddenly develop cooties." Vala complains to Adria.

"Boys don't make sense, mom." She just shakes her head. "Half the boys at school are so weird."

"They're like that until they grow a bit. Gotta develop a brain, honey. Takes 'em a while." Vala loops her arm around her oldest daughter's shoulder and pulls her into her side. "You'll find a good one. Just like your daddy."

"Dad's the best, isn't he?" She gives her mom a hug around the waist. They both hear the racket as Aiden comes tearing around the house into the backyard. He immediately spots Tyler and tackles him. Even though he's just a bit younger then Lyra he enjoys playing with Tyler a lot. "Aunt Sam!"

Adria and Lyra both take off and give her a hug as she's walking over to Vala. "Hey girls. Nice to see you."

"Thanks for taking her, Samantha."

"It's not a problem. I love the Science Museum." Her face lights up just at the thought of having someone to share all her knowledge with.

"I gave her some money for the admission and the shop. So don't go buying her anything." There have been many times when the kids come home with more than Cam or Vala intended when Sam or Daniel had taken them out. After Aiden's birth something happened, that even Vala doesn't know, so he's going to be their only. They spoil her children needlessly because of it though.

"We'll see." Sam winks at Addy and motions to the car. "We're going to stop for lunch-"

"Oh, let me give her some-"

"No way, it's on me." She rushes off with Adria before Vala can hand her more money. "Grab your stuff and meet me at the car, hon?"

Adria runs back hugs her mom and then races into the kitchen to grab her things. "Have fun, darling." She gets another wave and huge smile before she disappears to meet Sam.

Vala turns to the other three. "Okay, what should we do for lunch? Mac and Cheese? Grilled cheese? Cheese something else?"

"Jello!" Aiden yells. "Pudding!"

"Does that work on your mom?" He has a tiny grin and shakes his head. "Didn't think so."

"Chicken nuggets, mommy!" Lyra offers before sliding down the pole. "Aaaaand mac 'n cheese!"

"That okay with everyone?" Vala likes to see all kids eat. When everyone nods she crosses her arms. "Okay, i'm going to go start lunch, Tyler, can you watch these two hooligans?"

"No problem, mom." He loves when he's allowed a bit more responsibility. "I'm old enough."

"And fast enough to run in and get me if you need me." He agrees and the kids go back and play while she heads inside.

xxxx

When he gets out of the shower, Cam finds Vala alone in the kitchen, humming as she readies the mac and cheese to stick into the oven along with the chicken nuggets that are already cooking.

"Hey, sexy mama," Cam says, walking up behind her. She smiles without even turning to look at him and leans back against him. He wraps his arms around her, leaving her own arms free to finish the food prep. "You ask Sam?"

She growls with frustration. "Forgot… When they get back. We'll ask then."

"Alright." He backs up along enough to let her stick it in the oven, then grabs her again. "What do you say we spike the Kool-Aid with night time sleep cough syrup and then get a little naughty?"

He's just kidding, of course, but from the look in her eye he can tell she considers it for just a moment. Then she sighs. "With our luck, we'd mix up the bottles and give them something that would just make them more energetic."

Cam groans. "True."

They've had some bad luck with medications not reacting as they should, due to the numerous things introduced into Vala's system through the Goa'uld, the Ori, and just by virtue of her having grown up and lived on other worlds. She's passed along more than just her attitude and some physical features to her children. Luckily there's never been anything that Dr. Lam hasn't been equipped to deal with... and even more luckily, she'll still do house calls.

"So we'll just have to do it the old fashioned way and wear them out so they want to nap," Vala decides.

Cam laughs. "You realize that we'll probably wear out first? We'll fall asleep and they'll have the run of the house."

Vala tsks. "Well, what's your grand plan, then?"

"I don't have one," Cam admits. "My tactical planning skills have gotten a little rusty."

"Lies," Vala murmurs, brushing a kiss over his lips. "You handled that pesky little threat on the population of the earth by a new and annoyingly intimidating alien force that happened last year just fine."

"Well, I had some help." He lets his hands slide down lower on Vala's back, copping a feel. "You proved you still had it going on."

"Yes, I was rather impressive, now wasn't I?" She grins, not modest in the least. "And we still work well together."

Cam kisses her again, the reminder of how hot it was to watch her work, take charge and basically single handily defeat them. "We are a brilliant pair."

"One of us is-" She cuts herself off because she wants to taste him again. A deep, lingering kiss. Lips devouring, her thigh raises and presses the outside of his. God, it's been forever. "Is brilliant. The other has a pair..." She reaches between them and cups his crotch - squeezing gently with a wink and a grin before turning away to pull out plates and cups for the kids.

He's aching for her now, before it was dull but her palm was too nice and now the desire and need is sharp. "That's not fair, baby."

"Everything is fair game when you've been abstinent for three whole weeks."

"Remember, back when we started dating? It was like three months before we made love."

"Now that I've had you, darling, I just cannot get enough of you." She spins around and loops her arms around his neck, pressing her whole body against him. "Never. I'll never get enough."

He hugs her and kisses her again. The sound of laughter and the door slamming makes him aware of how far he can go. He kisses her a bit longer.

"Your mom and dad are always kissin'!"

Vala laughs against his lips at the sound of exasperated Aiden behind her. Lyra's quick to reply, "They are..."

"Your mom and dad don't?" Tyler's always concerned about how odd his parents are. Since he started school and became a kid that others want to hang out with he gets a little nervous about them being different. Vala and Cam break apart and concentrate on the kids conversation.

Aiden huffs. "They do, sometimes. But if they know I'm there they get all red and stop. It's sorta funny."

"Well, I'm not the sort to be embarrassed by how much I love my husband, so I don't mind if you see us kissing. It's a healthy-"

"Relationship." Lyra and Tyler both cut her off and then simultaneously start to giggle.

"Kids..." Vala can only pretend to be annoyed as she moves to the table to hustle them into chairs for their meal. Cam walks up behind her and watches them settle in for lunch.

"Those two are definitely your children." He kisses her ear and then goes to pull lunch out of the oven. Vala pours everyone milk and they sit down to eat together.

xxxx

The kids are all parked in front of the TV watching a movie when Sam and Adria get back. Cam looks up from where he's responding to emails on his laptop while Vala gets up to answer the door.

Adria's immediately drawn away by three younger children all wanting to hear about the museum. She enjoys playing teacher to them and doesn't mind at all, pulling out the pamphlet she'd gotten there to show them all the pictures and explain what things are.

"She was great," Sam says, grinning. Cam and tell that Sam probably had just as much fun as Adria did.

"And nothing's been blown up!" Vala sounds triumphant. "That does make it a successful outing. And speaking of outings..."

Sam's eyes narrow. "Yes?"

Vala gives her a sweet, innocent smile.

Too sweet and too innocent. Sam does know Vala, after all.

Cam decides to intervene. "We were just wondering if you might maybe take the kids for dinner, or to see a movie, or something..."

"We'll pay!" Vala says. This time she not only sounds too cheerful, but a little desperate.

"Do I even want to know..."

"Samantha." Vala looks at her with wide, pleading eyes. "Three weeks."

Sam gives an exasperated sort of laugh. "Only three weeks? You've got to be kidding me."

Vala's appalled that Sam might think that wasn't so long, and immediately sympathetic. Or at least plans on being sympathetic once she's done being desperate. "Pleaaaaaase?"

"Fine," Sam says. "But you owe me. And you have to pay Adria to help babysit, too."

"Baby, I think they're spending too much time together," Cam comments, though he's already smiling wide at the idea of having Vala alone. "Four hours?"

"Two and a half," Sam says.

"Three?"

"Two."

"That's not how you negotiate!" Vala protests.

Sam gives her a look. Cam elbows her and says, "Two and a half is great. Plenty of time."

"For you, maybe," Vala huffs. Cam elbows her again and she relents. "Yes, that'll be wonderful. Just not quite as wonderful as four."

"We'll go that new Muppet movie and Chuck E. Cheese's afterwards." Sam's already groaning at the thought. "At least Adria is old enough to watch them too."

Vala's digging through her purse before she pauses and grins up towards Cam. "Honey..."

He just shakes his head and pulls his wallet out of his back pocket. "Okay, five movie tickets... five dinners, tokens, sitting money..."

"Cameron, it's worth it." Vala knows the cost is on the high side but she's so wet just thinking about him between her thighs, buried inside her. The slickness of bodies rubbing sweat and fluids, the hot open mouthed kisses. She must have a faint blush across her cheeks because he hands Sam $200.

"Cover the expenses and split the rest between you and Adria." Cam swallows hard as she pockets the money. Vala kisses his cheek, not that it's any more for her than it is for him. She's just not afraid to show her enthusiasm towards their activities while Sam is in the room. "Do us a favor. Call when you leave the restaurant..."

"Oh, good idea, Cameron." Vala gives Sam a quick hug while whispering in her ear. "Don't want to be caught all naked and sweaty." Sam stiffens and Vala chuckles at the fact she can still make her feel uncomfortable. "When Daniel gets back, we'll return the favor."

Cam heads into the living room to let the kids in on the plan. They of course all approve but not until after their show is done. Adria is sitting in the center of the couch and Lyra and Tyler are on either side and Aiden is snuggled up to Lyra. "Maybe a nap for everyone first?"

"I'm too old for a nap." Lyra complains while trying to hide a yawn.

Vala pulls out the pillows and blankets from the hall closet and spreads them out in front of the TV. They did just finish lunch not terribly long ago. She can wait a few hours... just knowing it's going to happen is good. The anticipation is rolling off her and she can tell that her husband can feel it. He's giving her side glances, hot, needy, filled with desire looks. The three adults go into the office and Sam sits in the leather chair while Cam and Vala take the small couch.

Her body snuggles closer and Vala pulls his arm around her shoulders. "When's Daniel coming back?" She asks Sam. Vala hasn't been in the office for a bit and it feels like she's way out of the loop sometimes. Daniel will just email or have a flash drive delivered if he needs her assistance now, for the most part. She's a stay at home mom and, as surprising as it is to her at times, she loves it. Watching her children grow and develop is something that she's thankful for every day. The fact that Cam gives that to her by going to work isn't lost on her. She kisses the side of his chin in thanks even though he has no idea why.

"Another week, I hope." Sam twists her hands around, she's unsure. "I haven't heard from him for four days."

"Oh, Samantha." Vala's sympathetic. She doesn't miss that time in her life - the time when Cam would be off world for who knows how long. "I'm sure he's fine."

"You can't-"

Vala cuts her off. "Of course I can. I have all the answers."

Cam rolls his eyes. "She thinks she does anyway." He kisses her temple and turns back to Sam. "If something had gone wrong we'd know by now. He'll be back on time. He better be-"

"Yes, I must talk to him about the fact that you don't find three weeks unusual at all."

"Now, now, honey," Cam says, humorously patronizing. "What did I tell you about fragile male earthing egos?"

"Oh, fine," Vala says. Then, as a concession to Sam, she adds, "I'm sure Daniel performs adequately in bed."

"And that's about enough of this topic," Cam announces, not entirely cool with the idea of any sort of discussion on the sexual prowess of Daniel Jackson.

In his opinion, if Sam and Daniel want to keep their sex lives private, it's their right. Plus, it saves him a whole lot of mental images he'd rather do without. He's got better things to focus on - like what he'll get to do with Vala once Sam takes the kids off of their hands.

Just the thought makes him shift a little, hoping his interest in that line of thought isn't too evident. He likes to think he has more self control than that, but... three weeks...


	3. Chapter 3

An hour later, the kids wake up from their naps. Everyone takes a potty break while Vala fixes up some snacks and packs a small bag. Lyra insists she's much too old for the "diapy bag" but Vala knows her children; especially that they have her appetite. Chips, carrot sticks, a couple bottles of water, and a few activities to keep them entertained just in case they get stuck somewhere, and she pronounces them ready to go.

"Mommy, come too?" Tyler asks, pouting up at Vala.

Vala bends and scoops him up. He's getting big but not too big for a cuddle from her. (Cam suspects that Tyler will never be too old for that.) She manages to convince him that it'll be more fun going off with Aunt Sam and that he'll have a great time.

"Mommy gonna clean our rooms?" Lyra asks. "She makes us not play in there while she's cleaning or she yells."

"Oh, yes, that's exactly it," Vala says, watching Cam and Sam try not to snicker.

Once they've all been hugged and kissed and sent on their way, Cam looks at Vala. "You realize that they're gonna know something's up when they come home and don't have clean rooms, right?"

"You realize," Vala shoots back, "That they've been gone thirty seconds and we're still wearing clothes, right?"

Cam's not one to dally, he pulls his shirt over his head and tosses it to the side. "Speak for yourself." He just chuckles as she follows suit. Soon he's quite naked and she's still struggling through her underwear. "Let me help with that part..."

He's pulling her into his arms for a kiss while his hands unclasp her bra before shoving her panties down. She drops her arms and her bra slips off. It's only them now. Clothes spread around the living room, but they'll pick them up later. Right now she's naked in his arms and it feels like longer than three weeks just then.

"I never get enough of you." He whispers along her jaw as he finds her neck. Tasting her in a way that's been denied them too long - at least by their standards. His hands cup her ass and try to bring her closer.

"I'm glad because it's very useful to get my way sometimes." She yelps as he bites her gently. So she changes her reply. "I can't get enough of you either. That more what you're looking for."

"Only if it's the truth, honey." He knows it is. She's never made any move that would indicate otherwise. It's still good to hear it though.

Vala smirks, she knows that he knows. "Do I need to prove it to you somehow?" Her fingers wrap around his cock. He's only half hard still and she gives him a few pumps before dropping to her knees and taking him in her mouth. She loves when she can turn him on like this, feel his arousal growing against her tongue. She teases the small opening with the tip of her tongue then suckles the head before moving her lips up and down his shaft.

Cam wasn't expecting that. His hands touch her shoulders to steady himself. She can still make him weak in the knees even now. "You can prove anything you like, baby."

It's so good from his angle, too. Looking down and seeing her mouth on him, eyes half shut in utter concentration as she sucks and moves her mouth. It makes his blood pump faster and arousal pools low in his gut, a more intense version of what's been dancing under his skin all day.

It doesn't take him long to grow hard enough that she can't take him all in. She uses her hand on the base, gripping and guiding him, sucking on the head. He moves one hand into her hair, loving the way the thick black locks feel in his grasp.

He leans back against the wall and watches. A thought occurs to him and he laughs at it. "Do you know how long it's been since you've blown me in the living room."

She laughs too but he's still in her mouth and the sound vibrations makes him gasp and thrust a little. "Too long," she says, muffled around his dick. He gets the meaning anyway.

After enjoying it for a few more minutes he pushes her back. She huffs, glaring up at him but her irritation doesn't last long. He bends and scoops her up into his arms. His back and leg wouldn't sustain it for long, but luckily the couch is nearby. He drops her down onto it then sinks to his knees and she lets out a happy little mewl, spreading her legs.

"Oh, you think you know what I'm gonna do?" Cam pretends to be annoyed.

Vala just nods and beams at him, that huge grin that Cam just can't ever deny. He puts his hands on her thighs and tugs her down until she's slouching on the edge of the couch cushion and leans in to start his play; his tongue draws over her lips and he tastes how ready she is for this, letting his tongue part the delicate skin and thrust inside.

He barely gets started when he pulls away. She whines in protest but he kisses her hip with damp lips, moves up to her stomach, up until his face is pressed between her breasts and he wraps her legs around his waist and cups the back of his head, keeping her there.

He laughs, blowing warm breath on her skin. and looks up at her. "I think we need to move."

She pouts. "I like it here."

He turns his head to nuzzle the swell of a breast. She smells so good, soft and sweet and familiar. "My knees hurt."

"You're getting old."

"Not too old, though." He leans back and gets to his feet but she jerks on his arm and he lets himself fall onto the couch. They tumble sideways laughing and Vala wraps her arms around him.

She's kissing him then, not letting him speak of moving any longer. He happily parts his lips and lets her tongue into his mouth. Maybe moving isn't a grand idea. Right here on the couch, her riding him, making as much noise as they want...

"Ouch." She mumbles against him and moves her hand to rub her knee. "Okay, you win, lets go to our bed."

"What do you mean... Getting old?" Cam rubs where her hand's at, trying to soothe the ache.

Vala shakes her head and kisses him quickly. "I think we need a new couch. This one bit me." She lowers her sex against his cock and rubs. Until the couch attacks her again. "Okay, lets go to bed."

Cam sits up and kisses her neck, lips following the tendon. "Lead the way, Mrs. Mitchell."

"So formal." She presses herself against him once more before standing up and offering her hand. He takes it and she leads him to their bedroom. Standing next to their bed she tugs him to her and places his hand at her waist. "Kiss me, again."

That is a request he's more than happy to fulfill. He kisses her slow and soft as their hands play over each others skin. Her bottom lip is sucked between his at they lock lips. Her back is smooth under his palms and he's touching her everywhere he can reach. Squeezing her ass, lifting her closer, tickling her between her shoulder blades before breaking apart and making her stand back. He cups a breast and lifts meeting the nipple with his lips as he bends down.

The point of her breast is stiff and pebbled under his tongue. She's sweet tasting and he suckles. "I miss it."

"Miss what?" She's running her fingers through his hair, angling his mouth back to her breast.

He kisses around her nipple and and noses her other breast. "Your breast filled with milk, plump and ready to feed one of our babies."

"You want another baby?" She lifts his head to capture his lips again. "A fourth child to dote on." His fingers scratch lightly over the slight swell of her belly. Right where she carried the other three children.

"I'm not sure. I"m just a fan of you pregnant."

"Oh, really? I hadn't gathered..." She murmurs, smiling.

She honestly doesn't mind the idea of another child, especially not since her last baby will be starting school soon. She knows there's plenty else she could do with her days - she just doesn't want to. She misses a baby to cuddle and hold and feed and care for. Enough time has passed that she even doesn't truly recall the misery of 3 am feedings and endless diaper changes, and if Cam seemed intent on pursuing the idea of another she might actually consider it.

But right now, it's beside the point; she's on birth control and it's hot to talk about even if nothing comes of the conversation. "You can just dote on me," she says, picking back up the thread of conversation that had lapsed when he became too focused on what he was doing. "Some areas could use more attention right now."

She backs away from him and stretches out on the bed, holding out one hand in an open invitation. He smiles and joins her on the bed, moving to lay beside her.

"Vala..." He shakes his head like he finds something incredulous. She quirks an eyebrow in silent question. "How are you so damn hot still?"

Her face lights up. "I could kiss you for that."

"Hope you could do a whole lot more for it," Cam teases.

Vala slides a leg between his, her thigh pressing into his hard on. "We could work something out, I do believe."

He rolls them so that he's on top, pinning her to the bed and kissing her. She squirms but it isn't a struggle to get free, it's a struggle to get closer. She gives up and wraps her arms around him, mouth meeting his open and seeking in a wet hot kiss that's all tongue and no finesse, just the two of them trying to connect on every level possible.

He moves and tugs her down a little on the bed and then he's right there, head of his cock rubbing against her hip. She reaches between them and guides him a little lower, shifts her own body just so, and he's lined right up. He thrusts and sinks in a couple of inches. Vala groans in pure bliss as she feels him stretching and filling her, impatient to have all of him.

She arches her back and he meets her the rest of the way, stopping when he's buried. "Oh, damn, baby," he groans. His face is ready and sweaty and she loves to see him like this. She kisses him again, teeth grazing his lower lip. He thrusts and this is exactly what she's been craving all day, sweaty writhing sex. She digs her nails into his shoulders and holds on for dear life while he starts to find his rhythm, whimpering without even realizing she's doing it every time he pounds in hard.

It's hot and perfect and sweaty and just... them. Cam's laying almost flat against her as his hips bump and jerk into her. He makes just that his pubic bone rolls against her clit on every thrust and he can feel that it's working for her. Every time he's bottoming out in her she clenches around him and it's driving him insane with a need. The need to come.

On the next thrust she brings her leg up further on his waist and his arm loops under her knee. The next plunge brings him closer and she gets the end of cock hitting her in an amazing spot.

"Right... there... Cam..." She's panting and rocking and already so close to bursting. His muscles are rippling under her palms as he drives inside her faster and harder. "Oh, so, so... so good."

"It's, god, wow... Really good." He agrees as he lets his teeth sink into her shoulder. "Can't believe it's only been three weeks." He's huffing the words against her skin. It feels like he hasn't been inside her, cock heated by her body, slick with juices. The noises of their bodies crashing together. Wet and hot, the pounding of hearts and the quickening of breath.

"Gonna come, darling..." Internal muscles clamp around his erection and the ridge pulls just right inside her. "Cam... oh, oh, fuck, oh"

She's rippling around him now, fingernails digging into his back, thighs holding him close. It's more than he can handle and he's spurting inside her before he can even register that he's coming too. His balls push more and more come into her.

His fingers are tangled in her hair and his nose is nuzzling her neck. He lets her leg down as they both ease out of orgasm. He can't get enough of the taste of her skin. He kisses and nips at her jaw, her ear - she's making delicious whimpering noises as she tries to regain her thoughts.

"That was... God, I needed that more than I thought." He kisses her lips after making his way along her jaw. Her lips are soft and pliable, warm and damp. She opens her mouth and their tongues slide gently together, moving in tandem. "You're so perfect, baby."

She locks her elbows around his neck so he can't pull away yet. His eyes are a deep blue, pupils dilated and eyelids drooping with satisfaction, she looks up into them and just feels so loved, so protected, so fulfilled.

The words practically vibrate out of her. "I love you." She rubs her nose along his before connecting their mouths again.

They luxuriate in being able to sprawl out on the bed and do nothing. A slight shift in position, moving so that there are actually pillows under their heads and then they're cuddling back together. He rubs his hand, palm flat, up and down over her side feeling the softness of her skin as they kiss lazily.

"Totally worth," he speaks while still kissing, momentary pauses for breath and tongue between every couple of words, "the money."

"Oh, yes..." She reaches up and scratches her fingers through his hair lightly. It makes him tingle all the way through and he presses his face into her neck to playfully bite at her skin.

"I think you left marks." He winces a little when he shifts and the skin pulls over fresh scratches.

She hums thoughtfully and nudges him until he rolls over onto his chest. She leans over him and inspects. "It would appear that I did."

She leans down and brushes her lips just to the side of one that looks wickedly red. The touch makes his cock twitch a little and he presses his face to the pillow. She can tell he likes it, so she keeps doing it, moving to straddle his waist. He can feel dampness from between her legs on his skin and she leans down so that her chest is pressed to his back and she can lick and kisses his neck. His hands grasp at the covers. "Vala..."

"Yes, dear?" Her voice is right there against his ear. He's hardening already, enjoying the pressure when she leans back, sitting on his butt. "I love to look at you."

He laughs. "Getting old."

"You look amazing. This body..." She runs her hands down his back, palming pressing more firmly once she clears the area with the fingernail marks. It feels good on a different level, soothing muscles that as he ages seem to be perpetually a little bit sore and aching. She digs her thumbs in right at the small of his back and he groans in pleasure.

"You feel amazing," he says.

"Of course I do." She slides back, hands cupping his ass. "Oh, and this - this."

She practically growls under her breath.

"Baby, you're making me blush here," Cam laughs.

"No, I'm not," she says. "Not yet."

She leans down and bites, definitely growling this time. Cam barks out a muffled laugh into the pillow and then cranes his neck around to look at her. "You ain't right, you know that?"

She rests her chin on his ass cheek and grins back at him. "And you love me anyway, somehow."

"Somehow." He gives a long suffering sigh.

She bites him again before sliding a her hand between his legs. A finger slips into the cheeks and he clenches around her. "Unchartered territories..." She kisses his butt again before pressing on. She finds the sensitive bit without too much hassle and starts a slow, gentle rub. She can hear his breath quickening again and she straddles his leg, bending her own at the knee and forcing him to spread his thighs and grant her more access.

"Baby, how much time?"

Vala uses her nail and scratches lightly right behind his balls and he arches into the bed. "Enough to get me off again... I hope."

He's turning over and she's maneuvered onto his thighs. His cock bobs stiffly against his stomach and her hand wraps around it. Fingers curling gently and tugging.

"Three weeks make me fifteen again, I guess." He's surprised by his recovery time, but definitely not disappointed. "Ride me, sweetheart."

She licks her lips at the suggestion. There's a thrumming in her now, a need to reach the pinnacle with him again. Vala scoots forward and reaches behind her to position his cock. When the head enters her she lets go and settles down onto him.

"Oh, god. I'd pay another two hundred..." He's holding her breast and she starts to rock on him. Every down stroke hits her clit just right and she twinges around him.

Cam grabs one of her hands with his free one and locks her fingers with his. Their palms are slick and hot but it feels so close, so intimate to hold hands like that while he's inside her. She leans down to kiss him and he releases her breast and instead splays his fingers across her back.

"It's cause you're spending my money."

She smiles before kissing him after he speaks. Her tongue is lapping at his, teasing and playful. "Our money, darling." She bites his top lip and sits back up to get an angle she can move more quickly in.

It takes longer this time, more of a slow build than the explosive need of before. They move together, kissing and touching, swallowing each other's softer cries. Cam knows exactly what to do, how hard and fast and where to thrust, and he has Vala quivering on the edge and holds her there, backs off until he's ready to join her, then lets them both loose to come together.

This time the afterglow comes with a shower; long and luxurious, under the hot spray of water they take their time cleaning each other. Vala's sleepy and happy and wants nothing more than to curl up in Cam's arms and spend the rest of the night there.

Unfortunately, $200 only gets them so far. Instead of blissful sleep they have to clean up - changing the sheets, opening a window to air out the room, picking up all of the discarded clothes in the living room... and hallway... and front foyer...

Sam's still not back with the kids by the time they're finished cleaning. But a phone call tells them they've got about forty-five more minutes.

Cam gives Vala a kiss - one of many, because it doesn't matter how sexually satiated he is, he still wants nothing more than to make out with his hot, hot wife. "Want a drink?"

"Yes, please," she murmurs, trailing her tongue over his bottom lip.

He opens a bottle of wine for her and a beer for himself. Vala's inhuman alcohol tolerance means that she'll drink far more than him and still be far less effected, something Cam sort of enjoys. They settle on the couch with a movie playing and end up doing more necking than watching but neither of them feel any great sense of loss over the lost cinematic experience. She ends up half on top of him, rubbing like a cat in heat against his leg. Cam finds it hot as hell even though his body has already announced that it's out of the game for the night, and he slides his hand down to her ass to encourage her when he realizes that she's getting more than a little pleasure out of it. Her pajama pants are thin and she's not wearing anything underneath.

"Oh, no way," he mumbles, but she just nods and looks more determined, face flushing. He gets his hands under the material of her pants and she gasps, turning her face into his neck and muffling her soft pants and cries against his skin.

"You are so fucking hot," Cam says, voice calm but thick with passion. "This is so hot."

Vala can't answer, she's too busy writhing and thrusting against him. He rocks his thigh against her to help her get there and it doesn't take long before she starts to shudder, body trembling, and then sighs heavily and stills. He grins, proud of himself.

Vala can practically sense that smug satisfaction. She lifts her head to his to kiss his mouth, eyes heavy with pleasure and sleepiness.

"That's three," Cam says, gleefully.

"Oh, I'll make up to you later," she promises. She shifts to the side and reaches down to cup his half-hard cock through his pants.

"I don't know..." Cam starts to say, doubtful, but her hand slips into the gap of his pajama pants to grasp him. What had been about to come out of his mouth dies away quietly when she starts to stroke him, causing his cock to harden against her fingers.

"I do." She smirks.

"Persistent, aren't you?" Cam grins. He's not sure she'll get what she's after but he has no opposition to her trying.

She moves her hand to push his pajama pants down just enough that she can see herself working him. It takes a while, steady coaxing and patience, but she's got him totally hard almost there when there's a knock on the door.

"No!" Cam groans, head flopping back against the couch cushion.. He looks at Vala with the ultimate pouting puppy dog expression.

But, even the puppy dog eyes can't help them escape the truth: Sam is back - with the kids.

"Why, Cameron, there is something with you and unfortunate timing." Vala kisses the side of his mouth before pulling her hand free and covering him with his pants. It's just in time cause the door creaks open, very slowly.

"We're back!" Sam's voice is loud and clear.

Vala's amused. "We're just in here watching a movie." The door swings open and the five of them shuffle through. "How was the outing?"

Sam looks at the position they're sitting in and knows that it wasn't quite long enough. "It was fun, right kids?"

"Oh yeah, momma." Lyra's the first to race over and leap onto her mothers lap. "We saw muppets and then had Chuck E. Cheese's pizza! It had my favorite pepperoni on it!"

"Oh, I'm sorry I missed out, you know how much I love pepperoni." Vala kisses her head. "We were so bored without you guys."

Adria can be seen rolling her eyes as she flops down on the couch. "Yeah I'm sure you guys were so bored." She doesn't really want to know what they were doing but she's sure it had nothing to do with wishing they were with them.

"Our lives lack fulfillment when you children leave." Cam ruffles her hair and winks at Vala. He's somewhat decent now, so she moves off him and sets Lyra down on the couch. She wants to talk to Sam before she leaves.

"Kids, finish the movie with you father." She pulls Sam by the elbow into the kitchen. When they are out of earshot of all the smallest people she gets a huge grin plastered across her face. "Thanks you, Samantha."

She's being hugged harder then a vice. "Vala, I can't breathe." The chuckle makes her smile. "I'm happy to help. Plus it pays well."

"Three times..." She groans in pleasure remembering the last time. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

No matter how much she hangs around Vala she'll never get used to her openness with sex. She can feel the heat on her cheeks. "You can't afford me." Sam's only joking a little. "You owe me, when Daniel gets back." Even the mention of it makes Sam blush harder and it just makes Vala grin wider.

"Oh, we can definitely work something out..." She loves the idea of giving Sam time to get laid. If only she could get her to share afterwards. "On one condition-"

"No, I will not tell you everything."

"You're no fun." Vala pouts but it doesn't work on Sam like it does on Cameron. The head shake is followed by an arm cross and she knows there's no negotiating that with her. She's far too private with her sex life. "You know you can bring Aiden by whenever you need to. What's one more when you already have three?"


	4. Chapter 4

Cam has to admit that he doesn't even remember which movie is on, but the kids certainly recognize it and plant themselves in front of the television. Tyler, Adria, and Aiden all sit on the floor while Lyra wants on Cam's lap. She's asleep before Vala and Sam even come back, clearly worn out by the long day. Aiden is similarly fighting sleep and doesn't even complain when Sam gathers him up, just resting his head on her shoulder and wrapping his arms around her neck.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Cam," she says, reminding him that unfortunately it's the end of the weekend and come the next morning he has to wake up early and show up at the SGC.

It doesn't take long after Sam leaves to coax the rest of the kids into bed. Cam carries Lyra, fast asleep, into her bedroom while Vala tucks in Tyler.

Adria, much too old to require tucking in, of course, still seeks out her parents for goodnight hugs. Cam wraps his arms around her skinny body and then picks her up, kissing her cheek. "Love you, Addy."

"Love you too, Daddy." She kisses his cheek then wiggles back down, heading into her bedroom. When he looks at her he still wants to see his baby girl but he can't help but also see who she's turning into, as her face loses the baby fat and she develops a more graceful way of moving.

He meets Vala back in the bedroom. "Now, where were we?" He nuzzles at her pointedly, far from forgetting where they'd left off earlier.

Unfortunately, Vala has plans for actual sleep. "I'm tired," she whines, looking back up at him. "You wore me out."

She's appealing to his manly ego and, of course, it works.

"I had very little to do with round three, If I recall. But I'll take the credit." He kisses her temple and splays his hand on her belly. her shirt has ridden up, abs exposed - begging him to touch them. She's on her back and he props his head on his hand and looks on as his fingers trace the lines of her muscles there.

"You really want another one, don't you?" He just gives her a soft smile and she reaches up and brushes her fingers through the hair by his ear. "What if I'm too old?"

"It's alright, baby. Three is perfect." It's true, nothing could make his family more perfect for him. Not ten more children with her. He would love another baby to hold and cuddle but he doesn't need it. "If you happened to get pregnant though..." His lips wisp across her wrist as she strokes his hair.

Vala thinks on it, carrying another child for nine months, the sleepless nights and endless feedings after it's born. Is it something that she wants to go through again. Weeks without sex, without the closeness making love provides them. But the thought of another little baby with his and her features all mixed together... It makes her want it too.

"We can try, if that's what you want." She leans up to kiss him. Sealing the deal with her lips. "I'll stop taking the pill, but you need to be sure."

"You need to be sure." Cam kisses her harder, pressing her back into the bed. "I'm not the one that has to lug it around, feed it every time it's hungry and soothe it when nothing else will."

"You have to do those things for it's momma, though."

"I'm not carrying it's momma around for nine months." Cam kisses her again. "It's a pain to go sideways through doorways, honey."

She wants it now. The look that crossed his face when she agreed... well nothing makes her happier then to see him like that. "It's a sacrifice you'll have to make."

He scoots down into the covers and pulls her to him. "Sleep now. Make baby tomorrow."

"I like that idea... We may have to try a few times to get me pregnant again..." Clearly it's something that she's looking forward to. "You're sure?"

He hums his yes against her hair, already slipping off to sleep. There's a tingle that flares through her and she feels warm inside just thinking about everything again. She finds that she misses having a small baby that relies on her more, even five year old Lyra is getting independent so fast. It's a strange flip of how she used to be wanting no one to rely on her and not relying on anyone to craving just that. A smile flits onto her face as she cuddles closer to Cam and lets sleep claim her as well. Dreams of a new baby flutter through her head. The smile remains most of the night.

xxxx

The next morning starts like every morning does for them now:

They wake up at the same time, a sleepy kiss before Cam heads into their bathroom to shower. Vala spends a few more precious moments in bed before walking down the hallway, sticking her head into each child's room to wake them up. In Lyra's, she's met with a wide-awake already little girl. In Tyler's, she's met with a whine and pathetic little whimper. In Adria's room, there's already an alarm going off. Like her mother, she's perfected the art of not even needing the snooze button - she sleeps right through the tone. Her mother's voice, however, rouses her every time.

She heads downstairs, pulling her hair into a ponytail and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. If she's had a particularly tiring night, up with a sick child or just talking to Cam in bed into the wee hours of the morning (enjoying the only time they get alone together usually, losing themselves in conversation that doesn't involve televised puppets or solving a fight over who took whose toy) she'll just pull out bowls of cereal and milk and start on the lunches. But this morning Vala's feeling fantastic, well rested and satisfied with life, so everyone benefits.

She starts bacon and eggs, popping toast in the toaster. She's become a whiz at multitasking, a skill that would have come hand in hand with motherhood even if she hadn't masted it beforehand. Adria comes down first, the only one that can get herself ready without her father's help, and slumps down at the table with her head cradled on her arms and goes back to sleep right there, fully dressed.

By the time Cam comes downstairs with Tyler in his arms and Lyra bounding ahead of him, full of unrealistic energy, Vala's got two lunches made and she's working on the third. She pauses to scoop the scrambles eggs out of the plate.

"Momma, I want some!" Lyra settles at Vala's heels and whines up at her, actually sitting on the floor.

Vala snaps off half a piece of bacon and hands it down to her. "If you want more than that, ask your father and maybe he'll make you a plate."

"Can I eat it down here?" Lyra asks.

"Doesn't matter to me." Vala truly doesn't see the harm in letting Lyra sit wherever she wants to sit. She turns the stove off and goes back to fixing the lunches, putting in a few coins for a snack or a drink in Adria's, an extra serving of raw carrots for Tyler - whose always seems hungry.

Cam dumps bacon and eggs on each plate, nudging Adria until she wakes up to eat hers and barely pulling his fingers away before Tyler's digging in.

"Not in front of the stove," Cam says to Lyra, who relocates to under the table, where Cam kneels and hands her a plate and a napkin. "No crumbs, okay?"

"Kay, Daddy!" She takes a huge bite of toast - of course, crumbs go everywhere.

After breakfast is done all around, Vala brushes Lyra's hair and Cam goes over the schedule with Adria. She's got special tutoring once a week at a local college, in addition to her extra classes at the high school, and softball practice.

Once Lyra's hair is neat, Tyler's changed shirts out of the one he's spilled jam on, Adria knows who to expect to pick her up and when, they're deemed ready to go. Cam buckles Lyra into her carseat while Tyler and Adria settle into their places, ready for Vala to take them to school. Cam gives Vala a smile as they stand between their cars. "Call you when I take lunch," he says, and heads off to work.

The silence always feels a bit unnatural, especially on a Monday. Vala does a quick turn around the kitchen, grabbing plates and cleaning up after breakfast. The dishes are put up in no time at all and she's swept and washed the counters. Lyra only does half days at kindergarten but it's still strange to not have at least one child around.

She checks her email and makes a list of things she needs to do for Daniel. A few translations to look over and some points to research. It's all blending into one big job now. She misses being a full time mom and she peers down at her stomach, wishing for a little life to take shape. There was some doubt, when Cam brought it up and it's still hard for her to believe that she actually enjoys being a mother that much, that she wants a fourth child.

"What do you think, belly? Time for another?" She pats at it then goes back to work. After all these years you'd think the hold that the Gou'ald had over multiple systems would have faded but there always seem to be new things. It can be difficult to work in that world still at times. Her past still haunts her a bit and it can leap to the surface sometimes when she's least expecting the reminder.

Pregnancy seems like the logical choice. Give Cam what he craves and allow her to do what she loves most. "I'll stop taking my pill." She talks to her belly some more. "We're gonna put a baby in you again."

xxxx

The science lab is pretty empty. Only a few kids at Adria's school signed up for the advanced lab as well as the advanced lecture. It's nice to be able to work in a quieter environment. Adria had little time for disruptions in class and much preferred to work on her own pace for the subjects she's more advanced in. The teacher let them work and discover and solve issues on their own. She was really learning much more quickly in here then she was before her parents moved her up.

"Did you get the DNA extracted?" Adria smiles up as Mrs. Hawnsen walked by to make sure that she was moving through the experiment properly.

"Yeah, I got all three ready to run." She's proud of herself. The actually processing of the DNA will take a bit of time, but she'll be back tomorrow to read the results. "I'll set it up and it will be good for tomorrow."

"You're doing so well, Addy."

She beams at the compliment. "Thanks. I'm almost done. Plenty of time to get to my math class." Adria cleans up her station, double checks her work and then rushes out to her next higher level class.

xxxx

It's early afternoon when Vala gets around to calling the school. The conversation is brief; she requests that the project be terminated, citing family reasons when the teacher begins to get inquisitive. Apparently she catches onto Vala's implied meaning, because she hastily agrees.

Vala thanks her and hangs up the phone, relieved that they won't have to worry about that. The call ends just as the doors to Lyra's preschool open. Vala parks her car and gets out to go collect her little girl. Lyra's a bundle of energy, running literal circles around Vala as they walk toward the car. "Momma Momma I drawed flowers and then a monster SQUISHING THEM you think Tyler will like it?"

"Oh, you know monsters are his favorite," Vala gushes, getting Lyra strapped into the child seat. "So, how do you feel about taking a little trip to visit daddy?"

"Under the rocks?" Lyra's face lights up. "Yeah! Momma, lets go see Daddy!"

Vala grins at her and kisses her cheek. She tastes a little bit like apple sauce, and smells like playdough and the fresh sweet little girl scent.

Vala stops off at a fast food restaurant on the way, and then heads on to the mountain. She flashes her credentials at the gate and before long they're in the parking deck. She has no idea if Cam will even be available, but if he's not she'll just take lunch to Sam or Daniel's lab. They all appreciate something not from the commissary, especially the ones that are notorious for overworking.

Luckily, Cam's in his office, and he's more than happy to see them. Lyra gets to sit on his lap at the "big desk" and stuff french fries in her mouth while Cam and Vala talk.

"I called the school," Vala says, phrasing things carefully to avoid Lyra repeating anything they don't want Adria to hear. "I took care of that matter we discussed."

"Oh, yeah?" Cam's even more relieved than Vala. "Good. That's good."

Vala smiles at him to reassure him. "You don't have anything to worry about, I promise."

Walter comes to check in on Cam and Cam tasks him with taking Lyra to the commissary to get some ice cream. This makes for a very happy little girl, and for a few moments of privacy for Cam and Vala.

As soon as Lyra's out of earshot Cam says, "So that's it? She's gonna throw out the project?"

"Cameron, darling, you under-estimate exactly what an impression you left when you showed up for parent teacher night in this uniform..." She reaches out and strokes his arm, feeling the stiff material of his jacket. "All dressed up today, aren't we?"

It's not what he'd been wearing when he'd left the house, but he keeps a spare dress uniform on base always for meetings.

Vala wouldn't mind it if he wore the uniform more often, and she also doesn't mind letting him know her views on it.

"Big meetings today, hon." Cam looks out the office door and when it's all clear he tugs her into his lap. "You weigh a bit more than our daughter."

Vala sticks her tongue out at him before planting her lips against his. "Are you calling me fat, dear?" A squeeze of her hip and she feels his interest beneath her thigh. "Doesn't seem to matter to you, however."

"You know you're perfect." He kisses her temple before standing up and letting her slide off his lap. Her waist is tiny under his palms as he steadies her. "You sticking around for a bit?"

"I was going to go look at the things that Daniel has set aside for me. You have to leave already?" She pouts as if that will keep him from his important meeting.

"Can't be late." He hugs her before he starts to leave. "Thanks, baby, for calling the school. It's just..." Her palm is soft and warm against his cheek as she cups his face.

"We need to tell her on our terms." Vala lets her hand slip down his face and chest. They both watch as she traces the lines of his uniform. "You really do need to wear this more often..."

"Can't risk having you tear it trying to get me out of." He kisses her and then waves as he heads to his meeting.


	5. Chapter 5

Lyra and Vala are playing in his office when Cam gets back. "Two of my favorite girls." The youngest leaps to her feet and scrambles over to him. "I thought you would be long gone by the time I got out of there."

He swings Lyra up into his arms, props her on his hip and she starts telling him about everything that she did on the base. "Daniel wouldn't let me color on any of his papers though."

"I see he hasn't changed at all." Vala grins over at him and shakes her head. "I still have a couple hours here but... You ladies want to cut out early?"

"You ditching work? Isn't there something about needing to bring home the sausage for your family? How will you do that if you cut out early?" Vala walks over to him and snuggles under his free arm and he rubs his palm up and down her bicep.

Cam kisses the top of her head. "First of all, it's bacon. Bringing home the bacon. Second of all, baby, I'm salaried, which you know."

"Yes but I don't want you to make your government jealous that you're spending more time with you beautiful children and hot wife than them."

Lyra perks up at the mention of beautiful children. "I'm pretty, daddy?"

"The prettiest." Cam kisses her forehead. "Lets go home and make sure that Adria and Tyler have their homework started."

"Daddy, I got homework," Lyra says, proudly. "I gotta draw my family. I'm gonna drawed you, and Mommy, and Adria, and Tyler, and ROGER!"

"Roger too? Well, he'll feel all special," Cam says, picking her up. "Let's head to our quarters and let me get changed out of this, then we can get home."

"And make breakfast," Lyra adds.

"Breakfast?" Vala asks. "Now, why do you want breakfast?"

"Daddy said he was bringing bacon!" To Lyra, this makes perfect sense.

Vala grins. "Actually, I think breakfast for dinner sounds perfect. What about pancakes, too? Pancakes and bacon?"

"And sausages! WITH SYRUP!" Lyra's voice gets louder as she gets more enthusiastic, still perched in Cam's arms. It doesn't matter to her that they had breakfast for breakfast. Pancakes are a big hit so he's pretty sure the others will be fine with it as well. He puts her down once they're at their quarters on base.

She runs to the toy corner of the small living area, familiar enough with the base to know exactly what's there and what she wants.

Vala follows Cam into their bedroom, where he keeps his changes of clothes. She stretches out on the perfectly made bed (military standards) and watches him undress with an appreciative eye.

"So, breakfast for dinner..." She says. "And then perhaps you can have me for dessert?"

Cam grins, pulling his shirt over his head. "What, you planning on drugging the kids?"

"Noooo, but they have to sleep eventually..." Vala pouts. "I just don't want to go three weeks again. Not if we're trying..."

He bends to pick up the dress pants he's just changed out of, hanging them back in the closet. "So you haven't changed your mind about that?"

"No," Vala says. "Why, have you?"

"Nope." He walks over to her, sitting down beside her on the bed and leaning over to kiss her. "Just wanted to make sure."

She tugs him down closer to her level for a deeper kiss. Her hand slides through his hair and then she wraps both arms around him, hugging him tightly.

"Mommy! Daddy! Tummy hungry!" Lyra calls out, like she's singing, and then giggles madly.

"I think she's getting bored..." Cam sighs. "That's our cue to go."

xxxx

When she flops down on the bed next to him he knows it's disappointing news again. "Negative, honey?" She just nods her head and he pulls her into his chest.

"Maybe I'm too old... It never took so long before." It's been months of the trying to get pregnant and still nothing.

Cam kisses her. "Your not too old. I love you." He hugs her tighter and gets up to finish getting dressed. "Maybe it's not you, maybe I'm too old."

"Men are fertile much longer than women. I already assumed that was the case and did some looking." She's grinning at him when he gives her the disbelieving look. "What... I'm perfect, why would I blame myself first?"

He pulls her up off the bed and into his embrace. Even though she's making jokes he knows that this is bothering her. Once she wants something there is a fierce determination within her to grasp it. "Honey, you are perfect. Even if we can't have another baby I'll still love you an incalculable amount."

"I want to give you another child, I love you and I know you want one." She can hear his heart pitter pattering under her ear and she tightens her grip around his waist. "I want one too..."

"It will happen if it's meant to." He kisses the crown of her head. "I've got to get going. Work's going to be a cluster today." She doesn't let go though. Still needing his comfort and it makes him feel bad about having to leave. "Baby, we'll keep trying. That's the fun part anyway. Maybe we're just missing the right days? We'll have to increase our rate of attempts."

That thought makes her happier. "Yes, we definitely need to try harder." She finds the strength to release him, slowly. "I better go get breakfast ready. You don't have time to eat it?"

"Sorry, baby, got a meeting in thirty minutes that I'm supposed to be running." She nods and he takes off out of the room after giving her a quick kiss goodbye.

Vala can hear him saying goodbye to all the kids before the door slams and the car rumbles to life. When she goes back in the bathroom the pregnancy test is still there on the sink and it makes her stomach sink again. What if she can't have another baby? The thought is clouded with sadness but she knows that it won't change the way Cameron loves her and in the end it's what matters most to her. She tosses the negative test into the trash and takes a deep breath. There are three children downstairs that need her. They'll help her get through this without even knowing it.

"Kids, hope you're all ready for school! Mom's coming down to do breakfast." She announces, knowing their backpacks won't be ready yet but will now when she gets down there. They're all sitting at the kitchen table with bowls of cereal. Vala looks shocked.

"I got us food, mom." Adria grins. "I wanted to give you more time with dad."

"You are such a sweet child, Adria Mitchell." Vala walks to her and kisses her head. "Is everything ready for everyone's day at school?"

"MOMMY!" Lyra bounces in her chair. She just started school this fall and seems to be loving it. At least the part where she gets to play and color. "I'm going to school too!"

She also loves the fact that she's getting to go too. No longer to much of the baby, no longer left behind with her mother...

Cam doesn't mind Lyra going to school quite so much, since Vala's taken to coming to the mountain with him. The SGC will never turn down her expertise. (Cam has made sure of that.)

She shows up at the office a couple hours after he's there, but he's not out of his meeting until after lunch anyway. She spends the hours with Dr. McKay working on some recently salvaged Goa'uld tech from an abandoned colony they'd found.

But Dr. McKay insists on having his meals at the same time every day and abandons her. Vala's attention span wanes and she drops by their quarters, but finds it boring too.

She knows that Cam has work to do, but...

Somehow, twenty minutes later, she ends up waiting at his desk. When he walks in she grins at him. "I stole your agenda for the day from Walter."

He leans over to kiss her and then sits on the edge of the desk. "Good, you can tell me what I've got coming up next."

Vala flops the folder of papers to the right one, then bends it and shows it to Cam. Penciled in between the lines, between "morning meeting" and "afternoon calls" is have sex with my sexy wife.

Cam grins. "If Walter's responsible for that, I gotta give that guy a raise."

She's got her hand on his thigh, warmth from his leg seeping into her and making her flush a bit. "We can take lunch in our room..."

He's taken back by how much the simple hand on his leg still gets to him. His cock twitches in his pants, putting in it's vote. "I'm quite sure that that's a no-no during lunch break."

"No one will-"

"Everyone will. You are, one, not very good at quiet and two, will tell Samantha immediately after. Someone will over hear and then the whole base will know."

"Know how much you love your wife." There's no stopping her hand, it's creeping up his thigh and the tips of her fingers are now teasing the side of his penis. Still not hard but she can tell it won't take much effort on her part.

If there was any way he thought that he could get them both off before his short lunch break he might take her up on the offer. He grabs her hand and tangles their fingers together.

"Everyone already knows how much I love you." Cam leans forward and kisses her. "But we can't just go screw on lunch break."

Vala's pouting now. "But we're trying to have a baby. We need to have sex whenever we have time."

There's a sadness, an actual disappointment, in here eyes. It makes Cam feel bad. "Honey... there isn't enough time."

"I can make you come in me in less than 5 minutes." A wink followed by her other hand sneaking up to squeeze his cock through his BDU pants. "It won't take long."

"What about you?" When she looks away he knows that this baby means more to her than she's letting on. "I'm not going to use you like that."

"It's not using me... I want you to. Sometimes I don't come."

Cam pulls her chin back. "Really? There are times that I leave you hanging?" The sick feeling in his gut makes him swallow hard. He can't place a single time that they've had sex that she's not come at least once. Now he wonders how many times she's faked it for him. "Why... Why haven't you told me?"

"Never with you, darling. Before you... I used to fake it a lot to make it end sooner. I never want us to end." She stands up and melds her body to his hugging him tightly to her. He's still stiff - in all the wrong places - but she can feel him relax a little. "I'm sure you could make me come in the time limit too. You're always so determined to get me off... It's a wonderful quality in a husband."

He's still undecided.

"Cameron..." She soothes him now, like she would one of the children. "Even if I didn't, this time, you could make it up to me later. We're just... not doing something, if this still isn't working and I want to try more... perhaps different times during the day. When we get to at home it's always late, when the children go to bed. Maybe this one is just demanding to be on its own schedule from the very start."

He has to grin at how convincing she's trying to be. "We don't have much time," he warns her, again.

"Yes, so why are you wasting so much of it trying to argue with me?" She steps back and grabs his hand. "On with it, General Mitchell. You've got important business to see to."

xxxx

He tries not to feel like every single person that sees them walking through the hallways knows exactly what they're going to do.

She manages to somehow distract him once they're inside, though - she's in top form today, bossy and making sure he doesn't waste time with silly things like foreplay or undressing.

"Stop, stop," Cam says, because even if they're doing this quickly, he doesn't want to feel like the only reason they'd being together is to make a baby. She looks at him confused, shirt off, fingers on the top button of her pants. He brushes those hands away and draws her in closer, kissing her more slowly while he takes off her pants. She gets the hint and goes to work on his instead, pushing them down. He's half hard and she drops to he knees, knowing her mouth will do faster work than her fingers for this.

It catches him off guard and he's gulping breaths and grateful for thick walls. She gets him close on purpose, not wanting it to take too long once he's inside of her, and then she pushes him back against the bed.

"Nuh uh," he says, grabbing her and rolling her over until she's on all fours in front of him. She thrusts her ass back toward him and looks over her shoulder, grinning like a calendar girl, beckoning.

He uses two fingers to check and make sure she's wet enough for him, not wanting to cause her any discomfort. She's slick between her legs though, more than ready, and he groans when his fingers sink into her and feel that heat. She clenches around him and grinds back, demanding, "More!"

Just the sight of her bare back, ass wiggling in the air, hips rolling and demanding more, is almost enough to send him tumbling over. He can't remember why he was so opposed to this in the first place. He pulls his fingers out of her and slides them forward. Something about the situation must make her hotter because her clit it swollen and throbbing. He circles it with his pointer, slow and steady, before grabbing his cock.

He smears the pre cum that's leaking out of him across her opening, wetting the head with her juices before letting himself slip into her.

"Fuck... Vala, you feel so good." He pumps into her once and just holds himself deep inside her. Her breasts are swinging as she rocks backwards trying to get more.

"Time's a wasting, General." She grabs a hand off her hip and brings it under her, puts his fingers back on her clit. She knows she'll get there. There's no question. Everything about the scenario is getting her there. She's got her head tilted back as far as she can. "Fuck me."

Goddamn. She's going to kill him. He doesn't wait any longer. He starts pumping into her hard. Her ass his a soft cushion for his pelvis as he jams deep inside. This position does a lot for her too. The ridge of his cock just pulls along her just right and she tightens around him to feel more of it. Cam's circling her clit fast and pressing hard. His wrist hurts but he's ignoring it. She needs to come too. It's non negotiable.

"You getting there, baby?" He's on the verge of exploding. "God... I'm going to come soon."

"Mmm, Cameron..." She went into this knowing it might not happen for her, and that was alright. But now that they're here, making love, she can feel the edge of her orgasm just there. Waiting to be captured. "Harder. Harder on my clit."

He's always careful with her. Thinking he's already pressing hard, but she wants more so he increases the pressure and he feels the tiny organ swell under his touch. It makes his cock jerk and he speeds up his strokes.

"Almost there, baby... Can't..." He feels her flutter around him and that's all it takes before he's spilling into her. He rocks shallow and hard right against her ass not wanting a drop of that semen to spill anywhere else. His finger, somehow, keeps moving and he's pretty sure she comes around him.

Her whimpering as the blood that's rushing through his ears clears enough so he can hear anything over the sound of his own orgasm, tells him that she climaxed too.

"You're the best husband." She's stroking the hand that's still wrapped around her middle, His finger's still moving over her, determination is turning a little painful and she pulls his hand back. "That was a good one."

"To think I didn't expect to spend lunch naked and inside you."

"You need to work on your scenarios. I'm at work here with you everyday..."

Cam chuckles as he pulls out of her. "Honey, if I pictured this all morning I'd be in a right state by the time I got here..."

"The right state... mmhmm." Vala turns around and stands next to him. She kisses his mouth and her tongue begs entrance. They just kiss languidly and softly for a moment. "I hope you're going to be recovered for tonight as well."

"You're going to be the death of me."

She winks before heading to the bathroom. "There are worse ways to die."

Cam drops down onto the bed, catching his breath. His shoes are still on, pants on and tangled around his ankles, shirt still on though his BDU jacket is off. He's a complete mess but his bones feel like jelly and he can't get out of bed.

Vala walks back in with the definite swagger of a very accomplished woman. She has a damp cloth in hand and she cleans him up, straddling him and re-buttoning his shirt. When she's done with that she tugs him to his feet, giggling when his hands go around her, groping.

"Now, now, you do want to get something to actually eat before your lunch break is over, now don't you?" She asks, dropping one more quick kiss on his lips before yanking his pants back up for him. He takes over the re-dressing of himself and within a few more seconds she declares him presentable again.


	6. Chapter 6

Vala goes to pick Lyra up from her half-day at school. Lyra chatters on excitedly about all the games they'd played and Vala only halfway listens. She's too busy replaying the scene from earlier in her head; the feeling of Cam's hands on her hips, the thickness of his cock pushing inside of her...

"Mommy?" Lyra says, demanding full attention. "You're not listening!"

Vala flushes, guilty. "Sorry, dear, what were you saying? The blue play dough?"

Appeased, Lyra continues on her tale.

xxxx

Cam is having similar problems concentrating back at the SGC. He reaches up to scratch his face at one point and realizes he can still smell her on him.

He's immediately paranoid; can everyone else tell he's just had sex? But if anyone is any wiser for it, then they conceal it well.

God, she smells good though. He never even thinks about how much he loves the scent of her arousal. He misses her when she's not on base now. Maybe he'd rather just have his wife back, well not really back, he's never really had her without a constant needful child at her hip or breast or beck and call. What would it be like for her to be just for him for a few hours of the day?

"Cam?" Daniel's tapping his pencil on the table. "What do you think?"

"Sounds good." Cam has no idea what was just said. The expression on Daniel's face tells him that his answer wasn't exactly what he wanted to hear.

"Ah... well... I don't know if I'd classify "numerous threats from the small faction of existing Gou'ald 'good', but whatever you say, General."

"Well, it's good we know about it." He's backtracking as fast as he can trying to pull what his ears took in away from the vision his head was playing of his naked wife. "Now we can plan."

"Yeah..." Daniel's giving him a look. One that seems to know exactly where his head was. "We can get together later and discuss that. You seem a bit distracted. Is everything alright? Vala? The kids?" Jackson is truly concerned.

"Yeah, man. Everyone is wonderful." Cam's giant grin tells Daniel a lot more than he wanted to know. "Later sounds good. Adria has a science fair tonight that she really wanted us all to go to..." He motions for the clock and they all realize how late it is.

Cam pulls together all his files and dismisses the meeting. "Sir?"

One of the airmen is standing at attention close to him. "Yes, sergeant?"

"I just wanted to let you know that i took extensive notes on everything." He hands him the notebook. "I can get that back tomorrow, if you'd like."

"Thanks, Brady." Cam claps him on the shoulder and salutes, effectively dismissing him too.

xxxx

"Sorry I'm late!" Cam calls as he walks into the house. There's silence though and he groans. He debated about going right to her school or stopping home first. He hadn't realized how late he really was. "Shit, shit, shit." He sets his briefcase down and runs back out to his car.

He calls Vala as he's pulling out and speeding down the road. "She's not going to kill you... yet." Her voice is sugary with slight amusement. "But you better hope you can make it soon. There are a few children in front of her still. But, darling Cameron, our daughter will have your head if you miss this."

"Get Lyra to run and tell her I'm on my way." Cam hears her whisper the instructions to their five year old. "I'm sorry, baby."

"It's okay." She hears him sigh into the phone. "Really, Cameron. It's okay. This won't change her life. Don't get hurt. Get here if you can." She hangs up and turns the phone on silent.

"Daddy on his way?" Tyler's got a worried expression. He doesn't want to hear his sister whine if he doesn't make it. "Addy will never let him hear the end of it if he misses this."

"Yeah, honey, I know. But your Dad still has some hope that may not be the case. We don't want him to get in an accident on the way." Tyler nods in agreement.

Cam walks in just as Adria's section is being called. He spots Vala across the crowded gymnasium and motions to get her attention. She's holding Lyra, Tyler at her side, and waves him over. He weaves between people to stand beside her.

"I didn't miss-"

"No, if she's won, she'll call her now," Vala says, smiling at him. Her hair is pulled back into a ponytail and she's got makeup on, pink eyeshadow and lip gloss. She looks young, and cute, and he leans over to kiss her. "I'm glad you weren't in an accident on the way."

"Was someone worried?" Cam asks, still whispering so as not to disrupt the people all around them.

"Someone was." Vala reaches out and pats the top of Tyler's head.

Cam grins down at his son, squeezing his shoulder. "Made it in one piece."

They listen to the names being reeled off - third place, second places... and then the announcer reads Adria Mitchell.

They both clap wildly and even Tyler cheers for his big sister. Lyra squeals excitedly even though Cam's pretty sure she doesn't really know what's going on. Her enthusiasm is appreciated either way.

They watch Adria go and collect her award for winning first place and Cam sees her scanning the crowd. When she sees her father there her face lights up.

Ten minutes later, she's also announced as the overall first place winner, not just of her category. Vala looks over at Cam and absolutely beams, so proud of Adria's reaction to seeing Cam that she wants to make sure Cam himself didn't miss it.

He didn't, of course. He can't fight back the grin on his face. He grabs his phone and takes a picture - or six - of Adria standing there with her first place science fair trophy.

xxxx

"So, where does the future scientist want to go out for her celebratory dinner?" Cam asks Adria once they're done with the rounds of hugs and congratulations and more hugs.

Adria's grin is ear to ear. "I want Chinese food, Daddy!"

"Chinese food it is," Cam announces. "Special girl gets to pick."

"And ice cream after?"

"Hey, if that's what you want." He grabs her and picks her up, and for once she doesn't protest that she's too big to be carried. She just wraps her arms around him and lets him carry her to the car.

They get Lyra in her special seat and Tyler strapped into the middle.

"Daddy, did you like it?" Adria asks, voice a little skeptical, like she just can't quite bring herself to believe that everyone really thinks she's best. It's a bit ridiculous considering how far above the rest of her classmates she is, intellectually, but she still has the same insecurities as any other little girl.

Cam is quick to lavish praise on her. "Honey, you blew the rest of those kids out of the water. Love you, kiddo."

He gives her a tight hug, pulling her slight frame to him. She hugs back just as fiercely. "I love you too, Daddy."

Vala goes to slide into the driver's seat and Cam lets Adria slip down to stand on her own. "You wanna ride home with your dad?"

"Sure!" She opens the car door to let her mom know and then grabs her father's hand to walk with him to his, not as close up, parking space. "I was scared you weren't going to come..."

There's a little embarrassment in her tone and Cam pulls her under his arm. "It was close, but missing my oldest girl making me so proud... It's just something I wouldn't do."

"But It wouldn't be on purpose." She's forgiving because it didn't happen.

He squeezes her shoulder and opens the car door for her. "I wouldn't have mattered to you. If I wasn't here." She seems to be thinking about it as he goes around and gets into the drivers seat. "You know what though, honey?"

She shakes her head. "What?"

"It lets me know how much you love me. 'Cause you care that I'm there to see all this. To cheer you on. You don't know how much pride I feel when you accomplish something."

Adria's grinning at his praise. She feels so good already, winning after working so hard on her project, and now her mom and dad and even her siblings seem to feel the same excitement at her accomplishments. "I'm glad you're my daddy."

Cam swallows around the sudden knot in his throat. He never wants to tell her the truth. Never. "I am too, baby girl. I am too."

xxxx

He brushes Vala's bangs off forehead as he slides into bed with her. "Our girl did great today."

"She got my brains." She sets her book on the night stand and rolls over to snuggle against his chest. Their lips meet and he's kissing her sweetly. "And my looks."

There's too much talking for what he's got in mind and he shuts her up with his mouth. They kiss harder and deeper. Her lips are warm and soft and her tongue is teasing his. The sensations shoot through him and her holds her closer, hands petting and stroking her back as they make out.

"She got everything good about you. Nothing..." He's about to say it. But he stops himself. He came in with intentions of making love not discussing Adria's origins. "She's amazing. Just like her mother."

"Her father has a lot to do with it too." She kisses his cheek. Cam's eyes look misty and for the millionth time in her life she wishes she could change Adria's paternal side. "He's a wonderful, loving, giving, and gorgeous man."

"Lets make another baby." He's already letting his fingers tease between her thighs. "Another little girl for me to dote on. One that is the spitting image of her mother."

"Tyler will never forgive you if he ends up with another sister." Vala's hands push at the hem of his boxers and cup his ass. She rolls onto her back and pulls him on top of her.

Cam nips at her neck as his hands discover the skin under her tank top. "He'd like it. Being the man of the group. three sisters to protect." He can practically feel Vala rolling her eyes with the chuckle he gets. "What? It's a man thing, you wouldn't understand."

Her hand is wrapped around his cock stroking and he's gasping at the sudden touch.

"I, however, understand this 'man thing'." She smirks and he kisses her. She doesn't slow her stroking down, just uses her other hand to shove his boxers down. She pulls the crotch of her panties to the side and lines up the head of his erection. "Inside me."

It's a demand he's more than willing to comply with.

He indulges in a couple of strokes into her, breathing happily against her skin as he kisses her neck, but the elastic of her panties is catching awkwardly on the hair around the base of his cock, and he pulls out, annoyed. "Okay, we're in a bed, let's make the best of it."

Vala just laughs, and shimmies out of the panties, tossing them aside. She yanks her tank top of her head too and then raises her arm to strike a pose. "Better?"

"Oh, yeah," Cam says, growling playfully and tackling her onto the bed. She lets out a high sharp laugh and wraps her arms around him as he thrusts back into her, play fighting turning into a give and take of bodies. Cam's breathing harder soon and he doesn't try to hold back because as nice as this is they both need sleep too. He feels Vala's hand between them getting herself off and then her breath hitches and her body goes tight and then shakes underneath him and he pulls back and tugs her forward, pulling her legs up around his waist and slams home a few more times before he lets go. He stumbles with restraint and a loud moan escapes him. Vala's hand reaches up to slap over his mouth, not wanting him to wake any of the kids, and once he's come back down he licks her palm.

She makes a face and wipes it off on the sheet, unfolding her legs from around him and then just letting her eyes shut, breathing in and smiling. "Mmm. Yes, you'll do."

"Don't think I really did that much tonight," Cam says, pulling himself away. He goes into the bathroom, waits until his hard on has softened and then pisses, brushes his teeth, and comes back out with a wet wipe for Vala to clean up with. He puts his boxers back on, because while their children are supposed to be old enough to know to knock before entering, sometimes they 'forget.'

Vala is less modest, and doesn't bother redressing. She already has the lights off and by the looks of it, is half asleep. Cam lets out a groan of pure pleasure, not entirely unlike the orgasm induced one earlier, at sinking into their comfortable mattress and the thick pillow under his head.

"Good day?" Vala asks. They haven't had that much time to actually talk.

"Best part was seeing Addy up there on that stage. She's gonna be amazing, whatever she does."

"You're such a proud father." Vala smiles, loving it. "Really, you're positively gloating."

"Naw, that'll come tomorrow, at the base. Think a loudspeaker announcement is overselling it?" Cam grins.

Vala knows he's only half joking. She curls up on her side facing him, just able to make out his profile through the moonlight. "Maybe just a bit."

"When we came home she told me that she was glad I was her daddy." He pulls Vala closer to him. It chokes him up a bit thinking of her words. "She's... God, Vala, you, her, Ty and Lyra. You're everything to me. I'm not sure where I'd be without you guys."

"I love you." She's trying not to tear up at all the emotion that he's exuding. "You're everything to us too."

"I don't want to ever tell her." Her arms are pulling him to her breast, cushioning his head there, comforting him as best she can.

She just kisses his hair and sighs. She doesn't know what to tell him. It's not right to keep that sort of thing from Adria. She deserves to know who she is, where she's from. How she's influenced everything around her by coming to existence. It's going to hurt her family terribly, but she's got faith that they are strong enough to recover. To go on and be better than they even are now.

"I wish I could change things for you, Cameron." She feels his shaky breath against her naked chest. "But if-"

"Things were different we might not be here." He raises his head and kisses her. "There's no place I'd rather be. None."

"Sleep, love. We don't have to think about this right now. We've got lots of time." She lets him cuddle her breasts as he falls to sleep, petting his hair and rubbing her palm over his shoulders. She's not ready for him to hurt that much. Not ever.


	7. Chapter 7

"MOMMY!" Lyra comes racing around the corner and slides on her sock covered feet into the kitchen. "I got an A!"

"Your first A!" Vala pulls her into her arms and hugs her tight. "What subject?"

"Coloring in the lines." Lyra holds up her picture of a pink pony and a princess in a lavender gown. "I think maybe we should put this on the 'fridgerator."

"Of course!" Vala grabs Lyra's favorite magnet with a silly looking monkey on it and then lets her daughter pick the spot to display the picture. When she finds the perfect place Vala hands her the magnet and she plops it a bit to the right of center. "That does really improve the look of that thing."

"I can't wait to show Tyler and Adria and daddy!" She's running in circles around Vala's legs in excitement. "Oh also I got an A in this printing class too, but that's not pretty so i don't want it on the 'fridgerator, okay?"

Vala holds in her laughter. "Can I just see it anyway?"

The little girl digs the paper out of her princess backpack and hands it to Vala. "See, mommy, an A!" She points to the big red letter at the top.

She kisses the top of her head. "This is just marvelous, baby girl. All that help from you sister has really paid off."

"Plus the smarts in my head."

"Yes." Vala ruffles her hair and Lyra squeals. "Those are pretty good too."

Once Lyra's playing, Vala goes back to what she'd been doing before. She glances down nervous at the brown paper bag on the counter then screws up her courage and walks into the bathroom with it.

She hasn't even bothered to tell Cam that she's taking another one. The last three were all negative. She thinks he's beginning to give up hope, even though they're still trying. While always respectable, their sex life still hasn't been this overactive in years.

She shuts and locks the bathroom door, then gets ready to take it. She holds it in place and then has to laugh at nerves stopping her from even having to go. After a minute, things take their course though, and she's left to play the waiting game by herself.

Of course, a knock on the door interrupts her. "Mommy? I spilled!"

Vala bites back a frustrated retort. She lightly wraps the test in toilet paper and sticks it in a cabinet just so she doesn't have to explain it Lyra asks what it is. They don't want to get anyone's hopes up about another baby.

She takes care of the spill and then fixes Lyra's snack for her. Since she gets home hours earlier than Adria and Tyler, this is still their special time together and Lyra usually expects Vala to eat with her. (Vala is, of course, on principle never one to pass up cookies and milk.)

But after fifteen minutes Vala's impatience wins. "Mommy's got to go potty," she says, reverting through habit to toddler terms.

"You just went!" Lyra protests.

"Well, I had a lot to drink."

Lyra rolls her eyes and looks at Vala's half full milk glass, clearly not buying it. Vala sticks her tongue out at Lyra and that makes her giggle, but before she can say anything else Vala's already walking back to the bathroom to check the test.

Just opening the cabinet is nerve wracking. She tries not to expect anything but it's hard for her. The excitement of the possibility is enough to make her hands shake as she lifts the stick carefully out. Vala sets it on the little sink counter and closes her eyes, draws in a deep breath, looks down and gently removes the paper.

Two pink lines. She blinks. Her vision is clouding so she blinks harder and feels the tear streak down her cheek.

She's pregnant. The swelling in her chest makes her sob with joy. She covers the sound with her hand and sits down heavily on the toilet. Her legs are quaking and she can't believe it's true. After months and months of trying and being disappointed, the test is positive.

"Cameron." She just murmurs his name through her hand and tries to shake off some of the emotion. How should she tell him? The little knock on the door makes her jump.

"You 'kay, mommy?" Lyra's little voice is full of concern and she twists the knob and opens it. She's got a slight frown on her face and Vala opens her arms to her. The little girl races the few feet into her arms and she pulls her onto her lap.

Her head is snuggled into her neck and Vala inhales the sweet scent of her daughter. "I'm good, honey." Lyra's little arms wrap around her waist and squeeze her tightly and it melts her heart that she cares that much. "How would you like to go see your Daddy?"

"Daddddddddy!" Lyra squeals against her neck, always up for a trip to the mountain to bug her father.

Vala kisses her forehead. "Go get your shoes and coat." Lyra bounds into the foyer to get ready. Vala stares one last time at the two pink lines on the pregnancy test, still disbelieving. "I'll have Caroline test me when I'm there too. Just in case..."

Lyra's head pops back around the door frame of the bathroom. Her coat is askew and her shoes are untied. "Ready, momma!" Vala stands and pats the toilet seat. Lyra sits and offers her feet. Once the shoes are secure Vala grabs her keys and they head out to see her husband.

xxxx

Vala makes one impromptu stop on the way to the base, one that makes Lyra's little face absolutely light up. The store is bright and colorful, row after row after row of toys.

"Mommy can I get something please please please I'll be good for the rest of the day I just want-"

Vala laughs and covers Lyra's mouth with her hand to stop the unending flow of words. "One toy."

She's in a generous mood. No, generous isn't the word - she's in a jubilant mood. She lets Lyra stop in the doll section and pick out something and then they detour to little boy toys and get a new truck for Tyler and then a book for Adria, just hoping it's not one she's already read.

"We going to see Daddy now?" Lyra asks, her arms full of her own doll and Tyler's truck.

"No, I want to pick out a special present for him now," Vala explains.

They go to the stuffed animal section and she walks along searching for just the right one. She comes across a little plush puppy in a neutral shade of light green and smiles, deciding it's perfect. She grabs it and then picks out a little gift bag.

In the car, she takes a moment to prepare Cam's "present" and then they're on the road again.

xxxx

Lyra carries her doll inside. She's already spent the entire ride making up stories about how it beat the bad guys in a gun fight. Vala had listened halfway, amused by the things her child can come up with, but she was also distracted with anticipation that made her stomach do flips.

She carries the gift bag in and detours to Daniel's office, where she leaves Lyra so she can visit Carolyn. The urine test that Carolyn gives her only takes a few minutes to give results, and it's the longest ten minutes of Vala's life as she sits there on one of the beds clutching a little yellow stuffed puppy to her lap.

She feels like she could cry all over again when Carolyn confirms it for her. Vala jumps up, but Carolyn's still trying to talk. "I'll come back, I swear it, but I have to go tell Cameron right now!"

Carolyn rolls her eyes a bit but smiles. She's happy for Cam and Vala, knowing how they've proven themselves to be great parents three times over already.

Vala rushes to find Cam. She's afraid he'll be in a meeting but luckily she isn't. She breezes past a confused Walter into the office... that's empty.

She steps back out. "Where is he?" She demands to know.

"He'll be back momentarily, ma'am," Walter says, sounding apologetic.

"Oh." It only takes Vala a second before she realizes it's a good thing. She grins. "All right, then. Wonderful!"

That only confuses Walter more.

xxxx

Cam comes back from the quarantine unit where SG-17 is currently being held in, just as Walter had promised, only a few minutes. He has a stack of reports on his desk that need to be reviewed and nothing else scheduled for the afternoon, so he's anticipating a few hours of unendingly boring reading before heading home.

But when he gets to his office, he sees something on top of the files that definitely doesn't belong there. It's the stuffed animal that Vala had bought, and in its lap is the little gift bag.

He glances around like it might be some sort of prank before reaching out and opening the bag. He stares dumbfounded at the pregnancy test he sees inside of it.

"Congratulations, Daddy," Vala says.

Cam turns around and sees her in the open doorway. She's beaming at him, smiling and leaning against the frame.

"For real?" Cam asks.

She nods and bites her bottom lip. "So, I hope you weren't having second thoughts."

Cam drops the bag and steps over to her, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her tightly. "Oh, baby. Not a chance."

"Baby - that's right." She grins even more. "I had Carolyn do a second test to be sure. She wants to see me back there, but I just couldn't wait to tell you."

"Of course. Yeah. Come on, let's go now." He practically drags her out of the room, though she's laughing the whole way.

The bloodwork with Carolyn doesn't take long. Cam can't stop staring at her with a huge grin the whole time. He wants to feel the baby growing in her, see the physical transformation. Watching how his wife glows when she's ripe with child makes him giddy with excitement. He'd practically given up hope. It'd never taken so many attempts before.

She sets up the ultrasound probe and Vala and Cam excitedly watch as the flicker of the tiny heart appears on the screen. He clasps her hand tightly with his and just stares in awe. "That's our baby."

Vala can't stop smiling either. "We're having another baby..." He leans over and kisses her as Carolyn removes the probe. She gets cleaned up and Lam finishes marking her paperwork.

"You're good to go. Just need to see you back here in a month." Dr Lam pats her knee as she closes her chart. "It looks like you're about six to seven weeks along."

"When are we due?" Cam asks.

"Should be around June second or so. Perfect time before the worst of the heat comes through here." She smiles at the giddy couple. You'd think it was their first not their fourth with how excited they were.

Vala puts her clothes back on while Cam completes all the forms and sets the date for her next appointment. When she comes back out he's ready to leave and he pulls her into his body, arm secure around her waist.

"I love you, so much." His lips brush her ear in a kiss.

Vala nods her agreement and her hand covers his at her belly. "I can't wait to tell the children."

xxxx

"We're gonna have another sister?" Lyra spouts off the first question. Adria nods in agreement.

"Better be a brother..." Tyler is already feeling defeated as if the willpower of both his sisters is enough to make it real.

Cam ruffles his hair. "Could go either way, bud, never know!" Ty doesn't seem too comforted by his dad. "Anyway we got awhile before we can tell for sure anyway."

Lyra's face puckers in concern and she stops playing with her new doll and looks at Vala. "Can I still sit on your lap, mommy?"

"Of course pumpkin! Just because there will be another baby doesn't mean we'll love any of you any less." They seem to believe her. They've already proven it with the three of the,

"But I like being the baby." Lyra slumps in her chair and pouts.

Cam can't help but grin, he tries to hold in his laughter and mostly succeeds. :You'll like being a big sister just as much. Won't she Addy?"

"Sure thing, Lyra. You get to boss the new one around."

"Adria." Vala warns. "Your sister just means you get to teach her lots of things."

Lyra seems to ponder it for a minute. "I like bossing more."

"Hey, lets get the kid actually born before we start bossing it, how about that?" Cam says, just firm enough in tone to quiet the small fight that was brewing. He can sort of sense it now - that sulk on Tyler's face, the stubborn hint in Adria's voice.

But tonight they're all easily distracted. Toys, Chinese food for dinner, cake for dessert - and news that somehow miraculously makes everyone happy.

xxxx

Vala stands in front of the mirror. Her body shows absolutely no sign of pregnancy - actually, her body looks pretty much the same as it had five years ago the last time she'd done this. Pregnancy hasn't even done much; there's a bit of roundness to her hips that wasn't there before, but she's much the same as she was when they met. Her hair is still jet black, curling the humidity, straight when she takes time to do it. Her eyes are sharp and grey and Cam can still lose himself in them. She's just... Vala. Her smile, her laugh, everything about her. He hopes she'll never change and at the same time the idea that she won't terrifies him. He sees Teal'c the same way; over a hundred years old and looking younger than most of them by now. Vala doesn't think that'll happen to her. She says she's getting older, that she can feel it, but Cam is still wary.

He stands behind her. He looks at his own reflection and he can see the signs of age she doesn't show. Lines around his eyes and mouth, his face a little less defined. He's still in good shape, still works out, but he doesn't have the decades of sarcophagus magic working on his side.

"Just because I don't look it doesn't mean I'm not getting older," Vala reminds him, as if she can read his mind. "It was harder to get pregnant this time, after all."

"We don't know that it wasn't me," Cam points out. "I might have been the problem."

Vala smirks a bit. "Well, either way, it worked."

Cam's hand covers her flat stomach. "Yeah. It did."

She's naked standing there, as comfortable with him as she would be alone, modesty not even a thought. He's wearing his shorts just because he hasn't gotten around to taking them off yet. Her hand covers his. "So, names?""

"Uh... too early to worry," Cam says. "Besides, you know they're gonna push for a group decision, right?"

"I still get ultimate veto power," Vala demands. "I'm the one pushing it out of my uh-oh place."

Cam snickers at the toddler talk. He's not sure how she can be cute and sexy at the same time doing that. He probably doesn't want to think too much about it. "Yeah, and that's good, otherwise we'd end up with Barney Elmo Tinkerbell Optimus Prime Mitchell."

"Well, actually, now that you mention it, that does have a ring to it..." Vala muses on it. "And the nickname can just depend on if it's a boy or a girl!"

"Little Tinkerbell or little Optimus?"

"We can iron out the details later," Vala decides, leaning back against Cam. She yawns and turns in his arms, snuggling against him. He squeezes her tight. "Are you ready for another year of sleepless nights?"

"Dirty diapers..."

"Milky vomit..."

"Tears..."

"Jealous siblings..."

"Chain reaction fighting..."

"First word."

"First step. First tooth. First time it giggles, says mama or dada." Cam smiles at her. "Yeah. I'm ready."

She smiles back. "I am, too."


	8. Chapter 8

"You gonna be okay at school that long with only you and the teacher?" Vala's still not used to letting Adria make decisions. Too much has happened in their lives and the thought of her staying late on a half day to help her favorite science teach do some lab work and tidying... Well, it makes her nervous. It's not that she doesn't trust the teacher, it's just that more things can happen when less people are there to witness it.

Adria rolls her eyes, but she's smart enough to do it facing away from her mother. "Yeah, mom, you and dad can pick me up when you come back from work."

Vala sighs and nods. "I'll see if grandma can come over and watch the other two then." It's an inservice day so they kids get out at eleven am instead of three. She's got her monthly baby check up with Dr. Lam so she's going in to work the morning before the appointment. Adria was supposed to watch the younger two, but Vala doesn't want to stand in the way of her bonding with her teachers over science. It gets her out of having to listen to the technical stuff for as long afterwards.

"Grandma always wants to watch us!" Lyra comes bounding in with her backpack on and shoes neatly tied. "We're her favorite grandkids. She tells us all the time."

Vala pinches Lyra's pert nose and bends over to be eye level. "It's a small playing field, my dear, you're her only grandkids." Lyra sticks out her tongue in a move that mimics her mother to a T.

The phone call is short and of course Wendy agrees. She'll be at the house to meet the kids.

Cam's slipping on his BDU coat when he comes down the steps. "Okay, time to go. I hear the bus coming!" All three children take off at a run to meet the bus. "So what's going on?" He grabs her hand and lets his thumb drag across her knuckles.

"Addy is going to help her teacher after school lets out early, Mom is watching the kids, we have an appointment with Carolyn at one pm."

"You ready?" She nods and he leans down to kiss her. His mouth lingers there. "Now you're ready."

xxxx

"What should I do first, Mrs Hawnsen?" Adria's eager to help, she looks up to her teacher and aspires to know as much about science as she can.

"I really need to clean and organize my desk. Want to start there? I'll work on grading some of these papers."

Adria nods and starts with the top drawer organizing all the pens and staples and erasers and other random office supplies.

xxxx

"Cameron!" She's a bit winded as she pokes her head into his office, interrupting his discussion with Muscles about some random science fiction flick. "We're gonna be late."

He looks at his watch and claps Teal'c on the arm. "Gotta go man, we'll finish that later."

"Indeed."

xxxx

"Did you bring lunch, Addy? It's almost 1 o'clock. You've only got a couple drawers left." She knows she did, she saw her drop the lunchbox in the corner when she arrived.

"Oh, yeah..." She looks at her progress and decides she can take a short break. Her parents won't be by for a bit. "I brought an extra cookie for you, Mrs. Hawnsen."

She smiles and takes the chocolate chocolate chip cookie Adria gives her. "Tell me about your delightful brother and sister while you eat. I've only just briefly met them."

"Delightful... Yeah sure..."

xxxx

They always draw blood first. Vala's so used to it by now she doesn't even flinch. The lab is fast and with all the alien technology they get the benefit of processing tests very quickly.

"Now that we've got that out of the way, lets check on the little one." Dr. Lam motions for her to climb onto the exam table.

Cam holds her hand and looks on as she gets checked out. When they hear the heartbeat he buries his nose against her ear and squeezes. It's surreal.

There's not much to see, really, this early in the pregnancy - but even the soft muted thump of the heartbeat makes them both giddy.

Carolyn seems less pleased with what she's seeing, though. Cam's stomach drops. "What is it?"

She glances up and sees the gravity on both of their faces now. She's quick to reassure them, "It's nothing. Probably nothing. Your hormone levels are a little low, nothing too scary right now but definitely something we need to keep an eye on. Have you been having any cramping, spotting, anything unusual?"

Vala shakes her head. "No... actually... I've felt fine," she admits. "Hardly any morning sickness, which is a change."

Carolyn is careful not to react outwardly to that. "That's not abnormal. You're older, your body chemistry has changed somewhat. I do want you to take it easy for the next few weeks, until we can see if your hormone levels are going to stabilize. Stick to a routine. I just don't want to take any chances, all right?"

Vala nods, intimidated by the warning. "Should I come back before the next check up?"

"I don't think there's any call for that yet, but do come in if you feel anything that worries you. Cramping, bleeding, even spotting, or if you suddenly begin to develop morning sickness. Any drastic change, please come in."

"Okay," Cam says, and then kisses Vala's forehead before he helps her get cleaned up and dressed again.

xxxx

They sit in the cafeteria, neither of them saying much.

"Hey," Cam says, deciding that he hates that dull look in her eyes too much to let it stay. He reaches out and touches her arm. "She said it's probably nothing."

Vala looks at him like she wants to believe him so much. He won't lie to her, but he can repeat what Carolyn said. She's never let them down.

"And you feel fine. If you feel good, it means things are going good, right?" Cam prompts her.

She nods just a little. "You really think so?"

"I do," Cam says. He looks at Vala and thinks of all the planning they've done - Vala pulling out old boxes of baby stuff, just to look at it she claimed, the way she keeps the stuffed dog on their dressed. It'll still be a few more months before they get a nursery together - they've only got a three bedroom house, but Vala's study (also what Adria insists is her lab) will be turned into a nursery. He thinks of all that and he can't imagine this not happening now. "I really do."

xxxx

She finishes her cookie and looks at the clock. "My mom and dad are gonna be here soon, I'll quick finish the last couple things."

"Thanks, Adria, you've been a huge help." Mrs. Hawnsen goes back to the rear of the lab, finishing the experiment she's running for class. "You just do what you can, I won't keep you."

Adria nods and jumps back in. The second to last desk drawer is sticky and she has to pull hard to get it to cooperate. It's half full of papers, but they're a mess. One at a time she pulls them out and identifies them and sorts as she goes. Lots of old grade book pages, some cards, bad lab experiment ideas and...

"Wait a minute..." Addy whispers to herself, recognizing the sleeve of sheets at the bottom of the drawer. There are three clear sheets with blue squares on them. The ELISA test from earlier in the year. She was told that it didn't work, that something in the school ruined the experiment. She'd been disappointed but had understood. The cost of running the DNA tests was pretty significant so when Mrs. Hawnsen had said they weren't going to try again she'd just moved on. But these... These were complete results. She's seen enough examples and read enough to know what they look like.

Her name is on the tab of one sheet. Then "Vala Mitchell" right under it. She can see the boxes lining up in a lot of places. Really a lot of places... She pulls them out to look more closely and a blank sheet of printer paper slips out as well revealing the clear sheet marked with "Cameron Mitchell". Why were her dad's results behind that paper? She shrugs and picks them up.

The blue squares make her happy. Looking at the genetic make up of her father, it's a small pattern of what makes him him. She places it behind hers - wanting to see what makes her part of him too.

What makes her... There's something wrong...

"You alright over there, Adria?" Mrs. Hawnsen calls from across the room. The normal bustle of her working has slowed and now she suspects something. She's sure that her teacher didn't remember putting this here. Why had she put it here? She had to know something wasn't right.

She swallows hard and in her cheeriest possible voice replies. "I'm good! Just organizing." She goes back to looking at the plastic in her fingers. It's crinkling at the pressure points, twisting in her grip. Not one spot that determines parentage matches. Not one.

Adria pulls them apart and checks again. The names right there. In her hand writing. She lines them up, tapping them against the floor, she checks the two points on the sheet that mark the proper placing - they are perfect - now she takes a deep breath and looks again. Slowly she opens her eyes. But it's the same. Everything is the same.

She wants to scream, she wants to cry but most of all she wants to get out of the building. She can't breathe in here. She puts the test sheets back in the folder and quickly stuffs all of Mrs. Hawnsen's papers back in the drawer. "My mom will be here soon, I'm going to go wait!"

Adria's glad when she just turns quickly to wave, she doesn't notice her stuffing the manilla folder into her backpack. "See you next week!" She races out of the room.

Everything is burning inside her chest. The cool air outside makes her eyes water and she sucks in deep breath after deep breath. It's still early, her mom won't be here for a bit. Adria leans against the brick wall of the school and slides down. The grass is cold on her butt, but she can't feel it, not really. The papers in her backpack are making her stomach hurt, no it's her heart. It feels like it's going to explode. She pulls them out, just the two. Just hers and Cameron Mitchell's. Again she checks. But it's pretty conclusive.

Cameron Mitchell is not her father.

xxxx

Cam has just managed to get Vala smiling again when they pull up in front of the school.

Adria's sitting on the steps outside waiting. They're right on time, a few minutes early if anything, but he still manages to catch her off guard. She's staring down at something but snaps the folder shut and by the time the car pulls up she's already put it away, into her backpack.

"Hey, kiddo," Cam says, not wanting to let on that anything's wrong. Or even might be wrong. "Hop on in."

For a moment, Adria just stares at him. She looks upset, and on any other day Cam might have picked up on it, but he's not even looking at her. He's looking at Vala, all of his attention focused on his wife.

"How was school?" Vala asks. She's smiling cheerfully, like a flip has been switched, and Cam doesn't know how she does it. He squeezes her hand and starts up the car.

"Fine, Mom," Adria says.

Vala does pick up on something. "Everything all right, sweetheart?"

Adria realizes that lying to her mother has never worked before, so she goes for the time-honored tradition of misleading. "I got a..." No, bad grade won't work; they'd never believe it. "Someone was picking on me earlier."

The words sound hollow and false to Adria's own ears but Vala accepts it, proof that she's distracted too. "About your high school courses again?"

"Yeah. But I'm fine," Adria says. She slumps in her seat and tries not to cry. She can see Cam's face, his profile, and she thinks about how she's always known they didn't look alike; not the way that Tyler looks just like him, or the way Lyra has his eyes and her hair color is lighter.

When Adria looks in the mirror, she sees her mother and... what else? What else is there? Who is her father, if not Cameron Mitchell?

She reaches up and wipes a tear away quickly, hoping no one sees.

xxxx

"You go relax, honey. I'll get dinner going." Cam squeezes her shoulder as they walk into the house. "I bet Addy will help me, won't you sweetheart?"

The words sound fake now. Empty and insulting. "I have homework." Her words are short and Cam's face is surprised.

"Alright... Then, I'll see if Tyler wants to help, Mom should be here with them. Somewhere." He looks around and then heads to the backyard. The three of them are out there Lyra and Tyler are racing around while Wendy watches. "Hey guys!"

"Daddy!" Both kids race over to tell him about their day.

Adria's watching from the big window and a few tears slip free. It's not fair. Why isn't he her dad too? She wipes them away angrily and grabs her backpack and races up to her room.

Cam leads the way in, his mom has already started dinner. They all hear the door slam upstairs and it makes them stop and stare up at the ceiling.

"Someone is unhappy..." Wendy comments before kissing everyone on the cheek. "I'll go say a quick hello to Adria before heading out."

"Thanks, Mom." Cam's waving as she walks to the stairs. "Be careful up there. She's got her mother's temper."


	9. Chapter 9

Wendy knocks on the door. "Go away."

"Now that's no way to speak to your grandmother." Her voice is light but still firm. She won't tolerate disrespect.

She wants to yell at her that she's not her grandmother. Her fists clench at her sides. Why won't they just leave her alone? "I'm busy, Grandma."

"I just wanted to say hello to you before heading home. Now come out here and give me a hug, then I'll leave you alone."

Adria reluctantly opens the door and Wendy can tell that she's been crying. It's best not to mention it, she's got her mother's stubborn streak too. Her arms open and Wendy pulls the lithe little girl tightly against her. "Whatever it is, honey. You'll get through it. You've got parents that love you very much. The best thing to do is talk to them."

Wendy won't let go, even when Addy tries to pull back. "I don't want to talk about it."

"You will." She lets her step back. "It will work out, little one. You look like your world just ended. It can't be all that bad."

"You have no idea..." The words are out of her mouth before she thinks about them. Her grandma has to know. She has to. Everyone in her life has been lying to her. Uncle Daniel, Aunt Sam... Everyone...

xxxx

"Hey, baby." Cam finds her laying on their bed reading. "Dinner's ready."

"I feel fine... I don't know why Dr. Lam thinks that something could be wrong..." Vala's rubbing her belly subconsciously, "What's for dinner." Her stomach growls.

"Some nice chicken and veggies. I think mom made pie for dessert..."

She sits up and grabs his face, kissing his cheek. "I'm so lucky to have married you. Your mother makes the best pies."

"Glad I could help you get in with a good baker." Cam helps her out of bed even though she tries to shake off his hand. "I'll go get Addy. You just tell Tyler what you want, he's going to serve you. No working for you."

"Cameron, I feel fine," she tries to insist but she leans on him as they walk down the hallway, not because she needs to but because she wants to. Everything feels more okay when she's this close to him.

She heads downstairs and Cam knocks on Adria's door. "Dinner time."

He has to knock again before he gets a response and when he does it's, "Not hungry."

"Adria, it's time for dinner. Whether you eat or not, come sit at the table with us." His voice is firm, because he wants Vala to feel like everything is okay.

"I don't want to," Adria says.

Cam feels his annoyance rise. "Adria, open this door."

After a moment, the door opens.

"Look," he says, keeping his voice level. "I don't know what's going on. I'm sorry if you had a bad day at school. You know if you want to talk about anything, I'm always here. If you don't want to talk about it, that's okay too. You're allowed to keep some things to yourself. But you're still twelve years old and right now you're coming downstairs and having dinner with your family."

He's surprised to see not just anger in Adria's eyes when she looks back at him, but fury. "Fine," she says, spitting out the word. "I'll be down in a few minutes."

She slams the door in his face and Cam almost shouts back but Vala would hear, and get upset. Instead he just turns and walks downstairs, cursing the fact that she's just as stubborn as her mother.

"Is she coming?" Vala's sitting at the table when he round the corner. Tyler's already brought her a plate of food.

"Yeah..." This isn't the time to discuss their oldest, not within earshot of everyone in the house. It's not fair to her, plus he doesn't want to ruin a good family dinner. Vala is supposed to be relaxing. So he looks to Ty. "Thanks for setting your mom up, Buddy."

"It was easy, dad." He kisses his mother's cheek on his way to his chair.

Cam helps Lyra dish up her food and then gets some for himself before sitting across from his wife. Adria storms into the kitchen and plops down in her chair. The noise that can be caused by a twelve year old weighing around eighty pounds surprises him sometimes.

There's no remark, just a look from Vala. She's concerned and he wants to remove all the pressure from her quickly. "Now that we're all here, lets eat."

The biggest carrot on the plate gets stuffed into Lyra's mouth before she notices that her sister's not eating. "Why you not eating, Addy?" The food jumbles her words but Adria still understands.

"Not hungry." She's mad. Steaming, mad, that she has to be sitting here. Surrounded by everyone. People who lie to her. Pretend she means something to them, but they keep that secret from her for twelve years. That's not something that someone does that loves you.

"It's good, though. Gramma made it." Tyler's chewing on a piece of chicken making all sorts of noises trying to indicate how yummy the food is to entice his sister to eat. "You're too skinny, Dad al-"

"I don't care, dummy."

The insult makes Vala go pale and Cam steps in. "Hey, now. Your brother is only trying to get you to eat. That doesn't make him dumb. All three of you are smart. No need to call names."

"Adria, honey, it's alright if you don't want to eat." Vala's trying to smooth it over. Usually she's very good at redirecting all her children, including Cameron, when their tempers start to flare. "Tyler why don't you and Lyra tell us how your afternoon with Grandma was?"

"We played swings!" Lyra's happy to talk about the fun she's had today. Always happy and reliable for a mood changer. "Gramma can push so high now!"

The sound of Lyra's happy voice makes Vala feel a little better, Cam can tell because her color is pink again, but her eyes tell him that they need to talk. Whatever is bothering Adria is bigger than she's willing to admit. It's not kids making fun of her. It's something more than that. She's been teased before but it's never kept her down this long.

After dinner. They'll talk then.

xxxx

"She's just being a teenager, baby," Cam says to Vala. They're on the bed and Cam has his laptop up, reviewing some mission reports to make up for cutting out of the base a few hours early. He flips between documents while they talk.

"She's not a teenager yet!" Vala argues. "What if it is something else? What if it's a boy?"

Cam laughs. "I thought I was the one that was supposed to freak out over that?"

"You don't want to know what I was doing with boys at that age," Vala says, reminding Cam of how very different from Adria's upbringing Vala's own was.

"But she's not." Cam decides to try and change the subject a little. "You feeling okay?"

"Stop that." Vala frowns at him. "I feel fine. When Carolyn said to take it easy, I think she meant no heavy lifting, not don't move. And no distracting me."

Cam shrugs, realizing she's right but also still feeling protective. "If Addy doesn't get over what's got her so worked up by tomorrow night, I'll talk to her."

"We both will," Vala says, correcting him.

Cam starts to argue, but the look she gives him stops him. "Fine, we both will. But if it's a boy..."

"Yes, dear, you can get the baseball bat ready."

"I figured I might just train Tyler early. He's little but he's got some upper arm strength, he could give an eight grader a pretty solid whack, and no jail sentence for that."

Vala laughs, despite herself. "You will not have my son sent to juvie just to defend the honor of our daughter."

"Oh, so she's our daughter, but your son?" Cam teases.

"If you're talking about enlisting him to do your dirty work, then yes, my son." She sticks her tongue out at him.

Cam shuts his laptop and scoots closer to her, tweaking her nose. "How about sleep now, see how Addy is in the morning and decide what to do then." She nods and he turns off the lights. She's curled up on his chest before he continues under his breath. "And we buy Tyler a brand new Louisville Slugger."

The fist is expected and Cam braces for it. "You always hit me. I should contact someone about husband abuse."

Her yawn is big and she cuddles into his chest. "They'd side with me."

"You're right..."

"Of course I am."

xxxx

Adria can't sleep. Her mind is racing and she's shaking with anger. The exhaustion is there, lying under all the hurt. Nothing seems to help her calm her mind and let her drift into numbness. She opens her door and sneaks down to the kitchen. It's a dark night, not much moon, so she's extra careful not to kick anything. The buzzing of the fridge seems deafening as she opens the door, bright light bathing the tiles.

Typically, nothing in there interests her either. She grabs a juice box, hoping the sweet drink will calm her churning stomach. It seems to just make it worse and she tosses the half empty container into the trash. "I hate my life."

"Addy, mom and dad are gonna be mad if they find you down here."

She whips around and Tyler is standing there watching her. "It's none of your business, Tyler." He walks by her and grabs a cup to fill with water. "Why are you following me?"

He finishes gulping down the drink, wipes his mouth and puts the glass in the dishwasher. "I was thirsty. You know only water after bedtime. Mom's grumpy about that."

"I don't care." Adria feels like she's going to implode with emotion now. Why is the whole family on her case now? "It's a stupid rule. I'm old enough to make my own decisions."

Tyler's thankful she can't see him roll his eyes at her. "Whatever, Addy. I'm going back to bed. Night." He tried, but she's mad about something. When he's in the middle of the stairs she runs passed him and slams him into the wall. "Hey!" He almost makes the mistake of shouting but he thinks about what dad said about his mom. Don't upset her. So he manages to keep the word to a whisper. His shoulder aches but it's nothing worse then the boys on the playground so he just makes his way back to his room.

Adria, somehow, resists the urge to slam her door. Deep down she knows he's right and she doesn't want to be in trouble. She flops face down on her bed and then it starts.

The tears. They just seem to have to break free. Her whole life she's never been much of a crier, but right now she can't think of anything better to do. Nothing is okay. Nothing. So she lets herself cry - sobbing into her pillow until she collapses from exhaustion.

xxxx

Bacon.

Vala moans in her sleep as the smell slips past her nose. She's alone in bed and that means her lovely husband is cooking breakfast. The smell gets stronger and she opens an eye to look around. Her son is standing in front of her holding a tray filled with delicious morning foods.

"You really are the best boy a mom could wish for." She grabs a piece of bacon off the tray and motions for him to set it on her table. "Get up here and give me a hug."

Tyler of course scurries up there and squeezes his mother tightly. "Dad said you'd wake up as soon I was close with food."

"My nose is legendary." The look he gives her makes her laugh and ruffle his hair. "What next?"

"Pancakes!"

"Good choice." She uses the fork the break off a piece. There is the perfect amount of syrup and she eats the bite. "Mmm this is wonderful. Did you eat, darling?"

"Yeah, Daddy fed me first. He said I needed to be ready for helping him later." The look from his mom begs for him to continue. "He said something about Loo ville sluggers. I dunno."

xxxx

Adria doesn't bother with breakfast. She tells Tyler to tell everyone that she's leaving, and then goes.

Cam isn't happy at all to hear that. He realizes that there's really no way to avoid the talk that he was, truthfully, very much hoping to not have.

He makes light of it with Vala, saying that Adria just wanted to get to school early.

He's not sure if Vala really buys it or not... and by mid-afternoon when she calls to say she's taking Tyler and Lyra to his parents because she wants to talk to Adria tonight, he has his answer.

She really doesn't miss much.

xxxx

Adria knows something isn't right when she gets off the school bus and can't hear either of her siblings playing in the yard. The elementary school is near the junior high, but Adria stays late for science club some days so he usually beats her home.

She considers not even going inside, for one exhilarating moment. Just turning and... leaving. Running away. But her mind works either too well for that; she knows what happens to twelve year old girls that go missing, she's seen the news and read more than her parents would probably approve of.

"Mom?" She asks, slight trepidation in her voice as she walks inside.

"Adria," her mom appears in the doorway, smiling. "Your father should be here any minute. We need to have a little talk."

Tears well up in Adria's eyes, stinging and making her feel choked. She turns and runs upstairs, slamming the door. Do they know, somehow? Do they know that she knows? She isn't sure she wants to hear what they have to say.

Downstairs, Vala's floored. Whatever is wrong with Adria has to be more than just someone teasing her for being smart.

She decides to give Adria some privacy until Cam gets home.


	10. Chapter 10

It's been a long, frustrating day for Cam. He has one team stuck off-world in a touchy diplomatic situation that could go wrong in a heartbeat, and SG-12 had a casualty. The job is dangerous and every person that signs on knows it, but it still hasn't stopped being a shock when the worst does happen. Tomorrow he'll have to visit the family of the deceased and that weighs heavy on him, too.

"Hey, honey," Cam says, walking over to Vala and pulling her into his arms. She's talked to Daniel and Sam on and off throughout the day, and she knows what happened.

"Are you sure you want to do this tonight?" She runs her fingers through his short cropped hair, smiling when he smiles.

"Yeah. I want to get it over with. Can't be that bad, right?" He looks at her and she can sense the apprehension in his gaze. Despite his words, he still hesitates and lingers there with his arms around her. Finally he sighs and pulls away. "She upstairs? I'll go get her."

xxxx

She doesn't reply on the first knock, so he calls her name. "Adria. Time to talk."

"Don't wanna."

He can tell it's mumbled from a face pressed into her pillow. "You've had time to get it together on your own. Now we get to help. Come on. Downstairs, We'll be waiting." He starts to walk away, but decides that it wasn't enough. "If you aren't down in five minutes, I'm coming back up for you. You do not want that option. Just so we're clear."

"Yes, sir." She mocks him through the door.

He'll let it slide. Something has upset her, more than the normal sort of teasing or bad day.

xxxx

When he gets back down Vala is on the couch. Her face looks... it looks uncomfortable. "You alright, baby?"

She's off in her own world, something feels misaligned somewhere, she can't quite place it. "What, Cameron?"

"You okay?" He settles next to her and puts his arm around her shoulders. "I'm sure it's nothing big, just teenager drama. At this point I'm almost praying it's a boy."

"Me too." She snuggles her face into his neck. "I'm fine. I just feel weird. It must be all the stress." There's no sign of Addy.

"She'll be down in a minute. I gave her five." He can tell that's what she was wondering and she smiles, weakly but still a smile, at him just for knowing her that well.

They just cuddle on the couch waiting to be graced with the presence of their daughter when at four and a half minutes she finally appears.

"Hey." She opens with it. Her parents haven't ever really been harsh with her. But this is different. This is... "I'm fine." Like they'll believe it.

"Sweetheart," Cam pats the couch next to them, she shakes her head and just keeps shifting her weight from foot to foot in front of them. "We know something's not right. Please talk to us."

"I..." Adria feels the tears and she doesn't know how she can say it.

Vala holds her hand out and she takes that, curling up against her mother. "You can tell us anything, darling. We won't judge you. We just want you to be happy."

Be happy? Is that why they lied to her? So she would think that Cam loved her just as much as his real kids? "I can't tell you."

"Addy we love you." Cam's voice saying that seems to shake her up.

"Don't lie to me." Her words are venomous, sharp.

Both of them are startled by her. Vala looks on the edge of tears so Cam keeps talking. "We love you more than you can even understand, honey. Not until you have your own kids."

That makes her cry. Cam has no idea what he's doing wrong. He looks to Vala and she seems to be at a loss as well. She tries to lighten the mood. "Don't worry, hon, we don't want any 'til you're at least 30." She rubs her back and she's so stiff under her touch. "Is this about a boy?"

"No, mother, this isn't about a boy." Adria leaps up. "Why can't you just leave me alone?" She's so loud, it's like she's shouting to them across a football field.

Vala's getting upset, he sees the first tear escape and trickle down her cheek. "Hey, now. You're upsetting your mom."

"I'm fine, Cameron." She wipes the tear away. "Don't speak to your parents in that tone of voice again, young lady."

That makes her bark out a twisted sort of laughter. It turns into broken sobs though before she whispers back at them. "Parents?"

Cam stops, dead still. He doesn't want to believe it, but he looks at her and he can see it all over her face. "Adria."

"You're not my dad!" She's back to screaming at them - no, not at them, at Cam. "You all lied to me and I found the test and you're not my dad!"

She's bawling now, tears falling down her fast, and any other moment moment Cam would go to her and take his little girl in his arms and do anything to make her tears go away but right now that's not what she wants. She's looking at him and past the sadness is deep anger and betrayal.

"Adria." Vala's is the voice of calm in the moment. "There are a lot of things we haven't told you, and it's not because we wanted to hurt you. You were too young to understand."

"Too young to understand that he's not my father? That's not a hard concept to grasp, Mother." She turns her glare on Vala.

"Yes," she says, responding with a level voice to counter Adria's emotion. "You were too young, probably still are. There are circumstances around your birth-"

"So? What could be so important that you couldn't even tell me who my real father is?"

"Adria!" Vala raises her voice for the first time. Adria stops talking. "Cameron has been in your life since the very day you were born. He was with me when you took your first step, when you said your first word. You are his daughter. He is your father."

"No," Adria says, still teary. She glares at Cam. "He's not. And you never would have told me. Did you make my teacher lie to me? Why would you do that? Why did you even need to, I mean you have two kids that are really yours, why bother with me?"

She looks directly at Cam when she says it. The words make Cam feel sick. "You are every bit as much my child as Tyler and Lyra are," he says.

She sneers at him. "You can't love me as much as you love them. I'm not yours and they are. Nothing in my life is what I thought it was. My grandparents aren't really my grandparents. I have family I haven't met. Who is my dad? Do I have other brothers or sisters? I don't know anything! You kept everything from me."

"We were going to tell you." Cam puts his head in his hands, hunching over, elbows on knees. Vala is rubbing his back, trying to ease the ache. He looks up at her, his daughter - in every way that matters, and can see that she doesn't buy it. "We were."

"Why should I believe you? You've lied to me my whole life. About my whole life!" Angrily she wipes the tears away. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

"Because this is how you'd respond." Cam squeezes Vala's shoulder and gets up, walks over to Adria and crouches down to her level. "There are things that we don't even know."

Adria switches her glare on her mother. "You don't know?" How could her mom have slept with that many men she didn't even know who her father was?

Her chin is pulled back to look at him. "We don't know. You're right. But it's not what your thinking. It has nothing to do with that."

"So mom's not a whore?"

Cam doesn't even think before he slaps her. "Do not ever imply that again."

"You're not my father." Adria lets the sting sink in. It would almost make her gleeful after the pain on her face. But it just hurts. It hurts so much. "I don't have a father."

Vala can't take this. It's too much. Her stomach is churning and everything feels tight, wrong, inside her. "Cameron Mitchell is your father." She can see her daughter start to protest but holds up a finger and it shuts Adria up. "In every singe way that matters. Cameron Mitchell is a father to you. Biologically, we don't know."

"How many choices are there?" She spits back, the venom still soaking through her words.

"Just one." Vala looks at Cam and he nods. If she wants to explain to her, there's really no reason now. "It doesn't leave this room."

"But-"

"It's a matter of high security clearance. It does not leave this room. Is that clear?" Vala is through messing around. She wants to know, fine.

"Okay." Her voice is smaller now, meeker.

Vala holds out a hand and at first Adria doesn't want it, but the pain that crosses her mother's face makes her reach back. She pulls her into her side and hugs her tightly.

"I was stuck in another universe." Adria's surprise is already evident. "Let me finish. I was stranded there, by actions of my own. It wasn't long before I discovered I was pregnant. I hadn't had sex in months, Adria, months. The only thing we can come up with is that the Ori gave you to me."

"The Ori?" Adria thinks over things she's overheard, stuff she knows she's not supposed to know.

"They did a lot of terrible things. Killed a lot of people, ruined the lives of millions. But they gave us you, Adria, and while it doesn't make up for all the wrong they did. I can never hate them for it. I love you, so much. Your father loves you too."

"I love you so much." Cam settles next to Vala who's paled even further since the beginning of the conversation. It worries him. "Honey, are you feeling alright?"

He strokes Vala's cheek and tips her head up to look at him. She looks like she going to be sick. "I feel sick."

She's clammy to his touch and he gets up to bring her something when she cries out. "What's wrong, baby?" He's running his hands all over her body, trying to find where it hurts.

The way she's looking at him, it makes him want to die. Her eyes are big and afraid and her hands clutch at her belly. "Cameron." His name is like a plea. "I think... Oh, god, I think I'm losing it."

"Shit." He hoists her into his arms and there is blood, so much blood where she was sitting. "Goddamn, Adria call Carolyn. Tell her we're on our way. Vala's losing the baby."

Nothing makes sense to Adria. She stumbles back and then runs to get the phone. "Dad, I don't know the number."

"Get my cell phone, it's in my jacket pocket. Look under Lam." Cam is trying his best to keep Vala calm. "It's okay, honey, it's gonna be okay."

Adria's hands shake as she pushes the call button. She's crying again, watching her mom in pain, seeing the blood staining her clothes. "Dr. Lam? This is Adria Mitchell, something's wrong with my mom!"

Carolyn reacts quickly, scheduling for an ambulance to come pick Vala up. "She's going to meet you at the hospital," Adria says. "The ambulance should be here in a few minutes."

Vala looks at Cam. "I don't think it matters."

There are tears falling down her face and Adria's shocked to see them in Cam's eyes too. It feels like something she shouldn't be watching.

She's not sure what else to do so she calls her grandparents. "Something's wrong with Mom," Adria says. "I think we're going to the hospital."

"Oh... oh, sweetheart," Wendy says, sounding upset and sad. "Do you want to come stay with us, too?"

"No," Adria says, because despite the overload of feelings she still doesn't want to be faced with her grandparents knowing now that that's not really who they are.

xxxx

It feels like forever while they wait for the ambulance. She sits on the steps and just watches until she hears the sirens outside.

Cam isn't focused on anything but Vala. It's Vala that says. "Adria... Cameron, see if they'll let her ride with us."

Cam looks at Adria and she's terrified by the fact that she can't read his expression at all. "Yeah. Come on."

xxxx

She sits in the waiting room of the hospital.

Cam sits in the seat across from her, but he doesn't say anything. He's staring blankly, not trying to talk to her, not even looking at her.

Adria's not sure if she's relieved or upset by that. Her mind is too full of things, things her mother had said: another universe? Ori? None of it makes sense. Another universe? She knows that her dad works with space stuff, but she thought it was just military planning. She's snuck onto his laptop and seen boring things, like requisitions for equipment. Lots of classified things, but she's the kid of two people that work very closely with the military. Things being classified is just sort of something she's used to. For all her intelligence, she'd never been that curious.

Ori. The word rings in her head and sounds almost familiar, like the memory of something just out of reach.

It sounds like something she'd watch on TV or read in a science fiction novel. She looks down at her hands, clasped in her lap. If her mom really meant it, then she's not even really from this planet. She's from another universe. She can't even really comprehend that.

Dr. Lam comes out and Cam shoots to his feet. "Carolyn?"

"I'm sorry, Cam," Carolyn says, voice gentle and full of genuine sadness for them. "Vala's fine, but she miscarried. She lost a lot of blood so they want to keep her here overnight."

"Yeah?" Cam asks. Clearly, there's more.

Carolyn glances at Adria. "I need to talk to your father alone for a moment."

Cam glances at Adria. "Go ahead. She's old enough to hear it."

Carolyn looks surprised, but continues. "I don't want anyone testing her and seeing the naquadah levels so we're having her beamed out of here and to the base using the Asgard technology. I want to check everything out using my own equipment."

"Can you zap us, too?" Rank has its privileges, and personal use of military equipment in an emergency situation is one that Cam is willing to take advantage of.

"Of course, General." Carolyn looks at Adria again. "I'm... I'm really sorry. For your entire family."

Cam's eyes shut briefly. "Yeah. Thanks, Carolyn."


	11. Chapter 11

"You're going to have to hold onto me, you're not in the system to be beamed out yet." Adria's quick to come over and Cam hugs her in tight. Even if she doesn't know she wants his comfort, is in denial that it's something she needs. He knows. He can feel her trembling in his arms. "She'll be alright."

It's hard to stay mad at him. The way his words are thick with worry for her mom. It feels good to be hugged and even her brain, that's protesting being this close to the man who pretended to be her father, is laying off for now. Mom's health is more important then this.

"I'm not worried." Adria tries to act brave. The squeeze around her lets her know that Cam doesn't buy it.

The beaming doesn't surprise him anymore but Adria gasps as the process covers them in light and then places them in the base. "We're here."

She lets go of him slowly, looking around the base. "What should I..."

"You can go to our rooms or you can come with me to the medical bay." He doesn't want to push her to be around him. No matter how much it kills him, he won't force her. He'll just love her.

"I don't..." She's not sure what she should do. "I don't know."

"Why don't you head to our rooms, call your grandparents and let them know we're here." She looks stricken at that thought. "You don't need to tell them about the baby if you don't want to. They might ask questions, but you can tell them I'll phone later. See if they can keep Tyler and Lyra overnight?"

"Alright, D-" She can't call him that, not now. Even the pain that crosses his face when she stops herself doesn't change her mind. "Alright."

"When you feel up to it, you know the way to the infirmary" She nods. He grips her shoulder and even though she flinches he doesn't let go. "You were really brave today. Thanks for helping your mom."

She wants to cry again, thinking about her mother. "I wish I could have made the baby not die."

"Oh, sweetheart, we all do. We all do."

xxxx

Vala's laying on one of the infirmary beds when Cam walks in. She's crying, looks tired and uncomfortable. One hand rests over her stomach.

"You okay?" Cam asks, walking over and sitting on the bed beside her.

"No," she says, voice soft.

"Yeah." Cam takes her hand and just holds it, looking down at her. "Me either."

They sit in silence for a few minutes, then Vala asks, "Where's Adria?"

"Our quarters. I think. I told her to call my folks, see if they'd keep Ty and Lyra tonight. Told her to head this way afterward if she wanted to. I don't know if she will." Cam's voice is empty as he fills Vala in.

"Go check on her in a few minutes, if she's not shown up." Just because Vala's lost one child doesn't mean she's forgotten the situation with another. "She doesn't need to be left on her own right now."

"Well, I don't think it's me she wants to see." Cam's voice is wry. "But we can talk about that later. Are you... I know you're not okay, but are you..."

"I'm still miscarrying. Carolyn said it might take hours... a few days, even."

It sounds so awful to Cam. "Does she want to keep you here the entire time?"

"No, she said I can probably leave tomorrow. You'll stay here tonight, won't you?" She sounds like she's almost worried that he'd leave, and that's when he realizes how hard this is hitting her.

"Absolutely." Cam pushes her hair back from her face. "I'm not going anywhere.

The infirmary is pretty empty and Vala is off in the far corner. Cam pushes the equipment out of the way and pulls the empty bed next to them over. The locks the wheels when it's butted up right next to her bed and then climbs in behind her.

"Where can I..." His hands hover over her body, unsure where it won't hurt. She captures his wrist and brings it down to her belly. "I didn't want to hurt you any more."

She just nods because he's so sweet and she's tired of crying. Cam pulls the covers around them and for the first time in hours she starts to feel warmth. Everything has been so cold since she realized what was happening. Since things started to tumble out of control.

"You should go get her... Check on her." The grip on his hand contradicts her words but she knows that he'll go. he'll do anything she asks right now. "Please? I'll be okay."

He kisses her shoulder, then her ear. "I love you. I'll be back." All she can do is nod because words will just bring tears again. Vala watches him until he exits that room.

xxxx

Adria's just sitting on the edge of the bed staring at the floor when Cam walks in. She doesn't even notice him. "Addy?"

"Hey..."

"Did you get a hold of them?" He knows that she did, if she hadn't she'd have come to the med bay and told him right away.

She nods, really not wanting to talk to him.

"Mom's doing alright." The little smile he gets is almost enough to make him feel better. "They want to keep her over night, they don't know how long... How long..." He covers his mouth and falls into the chair on the side of the room. He can't say it. God, he wanted that baby so much. So much. He never even thought that there was this chance.

It's all her fault. She wasn't supposed to find out. She didn't want to tell him... They made her yell at them. "You can have another baby. Then you'll still have three of your own."

The barb stings. His head falls back and he chokes back the sob. "I have three beautiful children."

"You have two." Adria crosses her arms and hunches over. "Two and me."

He draws a deep breath. This isn't something he can deal with right now, but he has no choice. "I have three. As far as having a fourth... I'm not sure I can handle this again. Your mother is down that hall crying herself to sleep right now. She just lost a baby."

"You think I don't know that, idad/i?" His face is so stricken she feels sorry for saying it like that. Addy takes a deep breath and starts again. "Sorry, I... I didn't tell them what happened."

"Okay... Can you hand me my phone, honey?" She brings it over, but never touches him when she's close before rushing back to the bed. "Thanks."

"Are you sleeping here tonight?"

"I'm not. Neither are you. We're both gonna take care of your mom." Adria seems to think that's okay.

She goes and gets into her pajamas while Cam calls his mother and father.

The first ring doesn't even finish. "Cameron?" His mother's voice is worried.

"Yeah, mom." He's tired, exhausted. Tomorrow's not looking any better. "We..."

He's crying again. "Honey, what's wrong? Is Vala alright?"

"Yeah... kinda." He sucks in a breath to try to get control. "We lost it. We lost the baby."

His mother's cry into the phone doesn't make him feel any less horrible. "Oh, god, Cam. I'm so, so sorry, sweetheart..."

"I know, me too, Mom, me too." He composes himself. "Can you possibly keep the two kids for a couple days?"

"It's not a problem at all. What do you want me to tell them?"

"Nothing... Can you, can you put them both on the phone? I'll tell them."

"Sure." He can hear her calling Lyra to the hand set and telling Tyler to pick up in the kitchen. "Here they are Cam."

"How you two doing?"

Lyra's first. "We're good, Daddy." Just the sound of the word daddy is enough to make him want to break down again. "Gramma and me made cookies! Tyler already ate four!"

"Hey, Lyra!" Tyler's defending himself. "I had three. Hi dad."

"Be good for you grandparents." He sees Adria come out from changing. She sits on the bed and waits. "I've got to stay with your mom a couple days. Addy is gonna stay with us."

"What's wrong with my mommy?" Lyra's so quick, so smart.

Tyler's not happy. "She probably needs me, Daddy."

"She does, so much, Ty. We can't yet though. Your mom... We lost the baby. The baby died today. Kids do you understand?"

Lyra starts crying immediately and he hears the phone crash onto the floor. Tyler's not as quick to emotion. "Yeah, dad... Are you sure mom doesn't need me to come there, I bet grandma will bring me."

"She does need you, buddy, but I need you to take care of Lyra, alright? Make sure she's okay." Cam knows that he's asking a lot from their son. Not only not being there for his mom but comforting his sister when he knows that he's hurting just as much. "I'll take care of mom for now, then in a couple days, I have to go back to work, then I really need you to do it for me."

"Got it, dad." He can hear the pride in Tyler's voice, even under the overlying sadness. "I better go, Lyra needs my hugs."

"Okay, buddy. You're the best. Mom, Addy and I love you. Tell your grandma and grandpa we love them too, alright."

"Night daddy, love you too."

He hangs up the phone and it's all he can do not to break down, yet again. "You ready to go to the med bay?" Adria just nods. So he reaches for her hand. It's a surprise when she takes it. Apparently she's that much in need of comfort right now that she'll even take it from him.

xxxx

In the med bay, Vala's exhaustion is apparent. Her stomach is cramping so Carolyn's given her something for the pain, and it makes her feel fuzzy. She pulls Adria against her, and wants Cam behind her.

"I remember sitting like this when Adria was a baby," Vala says, in a soft sad voice. "When I'd feed you, Addy, he'd sit behind me with his arms around me, and talk to you... sometimes me, but mostly you. You were... so amazing, Cameron. I don't know what I'd have done if you hadn't been in our lives. He saved me, saved us both, the day you were born. I think he felt responsible after that, at first. But then he started to fall in love."

"I did," Cam agrees, but Vala shakes her head.

"Not with me... with you." She cups Adria's cheek, talking to her daughter now. "He fell in love with you first. He'd come and get you during the day and take you back to his office. He said it was to give me a break, but I think he just wanted time with you. He loved you... from the moment he saw you. I think it took a little bit longer, with me."

"Not that long," Cam adds in. "I loved you both."

"He's the only father you've ever had. There is no one else, Adria. And you can choose to deny him if you want, but you're only hurting everyone." Vala sighs, the drugs definitely having an effect on her, and turns to rest her face against Cam's. "I'm so tired."

Adria feels shame wash over her but the anger is still there, too. She doesn't understand what her mother is telling her; she understands the words, but feeling the meaning is different. She starts to cry again and presses her face into her mother's shoulder.

xxxx

The next day, Cam brings Tyler and Lyra in to see Vala. He thinks she needs more rest but she wants to see them all - she won't leave him alone until he agrees that the entire family should be together right now.

He meets his parents at the entrance to the mountain and five minutes later they've made it through the myriad of hallways and elevators to their quarters. Carolyn had agreed that it was fine for Vala to move, as long as she came back if she felt any extreme pain.

Just having Tyler and Lyra there brightens everything. They can't help but laugh and find happiness in everything, and it's contagious for Vala. Adria's still lost in her own internal wanderings and she and Cam reach an uneasy truce. He doesn't try and force anything from her, and she behaves - mostly because she's terrified of making her mother even more sick if she does.

Tyler and Lyra have no such hesitations, though. They hug and kiss and bring more comfort to Vala than anything right now.

xxxx

The kids get ready to head back with Wendy. Vala's had too much commotion for one day and Cam pulls his rank on base to put it to an end. Adria's all set to leave with him, but he pulls her into the back bedroom and asks his mom to wait for a moment. She looks angry about it all just wanting to get away from him.

"Addy," She turns and looks at him. Never has she been so torn over anything. "Do you want to stay?" He reaches for her, because he can't not touch her, tucking her hair behind her ear. She flinches and he pulls his hand away.

"Does mom want me to stay?" Despite the bit of healing the night before for she can't stop herself from picking the most hurtful words.

Cam schools his emotion and just looks at her for a minute. She looks so small. Small and broken. Her eyes are dull and her mouth is constantly frowning. He tries to put himself in her shoes. What if he'd found out his dad wasn't truly his dad? He can pretend that it wouldn't matter, that his father's loved him his whole life and even if he found out his DNA wasn't the same he'd still love him just as much.

"I'm not being fair to you, am I?" He waits and she doesn't look like she really understands. "I can't put myself in your position. I don't know what you're feeling. But, Addy, what I do know is that I've known your whole life who you are. Do you know who you are?"

Tears sting her eyes. Will there ever be a day that she doesn't want to cry? Her voice is a strangled whisper. "Who...?"

"You're the girl I've loved like my own since you were an infant. You're the one I've held when you're sick or worried or picked on or excited. You're the little girl who's been my biggest joy. Addy, when we all went through your surgeries... Those days were, they were the worst. Not knowing how you'd come out of them, if you would..."

She's crying now and she doesn't even think he knows it, but Cam's crying too.

"You're the one that gave your mom and I that extra push, the reason I went out of my way to spend time with her. You're the reason I was able to fall in love with her. She's right, I did fall in love with you first. You worked your way into my heart with you little giggle and sly smile. I was wrapped around your little finger since you could grip it." It looks like she's starting to understand. "It never once mattered to me that I wasn't the one that shared DNA with, beyond wishing more than anything that I was."

"Daddy..." She can't stay mad, she's still got a million questions and wants the answers but... It doesn't seem like it's all been a lie. The truth stung, it cut deeply, but her dad's never lead her wrong in the twelve years she's been his. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, baby, you don't need to be sorry." He opens his arms and she runs into them. "You are allowed to feel however you feel. I just... I just want you to know that I don't even remember we don't share biology. It doesn't cross my mind when I look at you. All I see is my little girl."

She sniffles against his chest and it feels good when he just holds her tighter. "I want to stay."

He hoists her up and she's not about to let go. He opens the door and waves his mother off. She gives him a smile and ushers the other two kids out. "But is Addy okay?" He can hear Lyra concerned for her sister as they leave. His mother reassures her and that's the last he hears.


	12. Chapter 12

b**Chapter 12/b**

After observing her to make sure that nothing looks off, Dr. Lam tells them that Vala can go home. Even at home, Vala is tired and listless, though. The process of losing the baby takes a lot out of her - physically and emotionally. She says she feels fine, but she sleeps more than normal and Cam takes the week off of work, keeping on top of things from home and only making one or two trips to the base for meetings that couldn't be postponed.

She doesn't talk much - and that's ok with Cam, he understands that right now there just isn't a lot to say. Sometimes she wants him there and sometimes she just wants to be alone. Sometimes he lets her get away with it and sometimes he forces his company on her. She still doesn't like to cry in front of anyone; not when it means something, not out of sadness.

He goes into the bedroom to see if she wants breakfast and finds her sitting there staring at the stuffed puppy that still sits on their dresser. It's the one Vala had given to Cam when she'd told him she was pregnant.

He sits down beside her and reaches for her hand. She gives him a smile and then goes back to looking at the stuffed animal.

"We can try again," he says, not sure if that's the right offer to make or not.

She shakes her head. "Not now..."

"No, God, no!" Cam is horrified that she might have thought he meant that but she doesn't seem upset. He wraps his arms around her, pulling her into a hug that he needs as much as she does.

"Maybe in a few months... maybe..." She sounds unconvinced and he isn't going to push it. It's one of those mornings that she hasn't been out of bed. He knows she had some more light bleeding during the night. He'd listened to her as she got up and went into their bathroom and shut the door. She hadn't said anything when she'd come back but he'd heard her crying and pulled her to him.

"If you feel up to it, I thought we might get out of the house today." He pulls away but leaves a hand on her back, rubbing in soothing circles. "Kids are getting a little stir crazy."

"What did you have in mind?" She asks.

"Thought maybe we'd let them play hooky and head out to the zoo... weather's good for it, and we can stop somewhere and get lunch."

She smiles. "That sounds nice. I'll go get ready."

Cam feels accomplished when he comes back out. Breaking the news to the kids over breakfast at the table - well, breaking the news to Tyler and Lyra, at least - makes him their hero. Even though neither of them hates school, they both love not going - and to have Cam and Vala both skip work too? It might as well be a holiday for them.

"Should I go to school?" Adria asks, hesitant.

"What? No, of course not."

"I didn't know if you just wanted..." She glances at her brother and sister, neither of whom are paying her any attention. They're eating their breakfast so they can go get dressed and ready for the zoo.

"Of course you're coming with us," Cam says, looking at her. It's a reminder to him that while they've managed to recover somewhat, things are still different and Adria will probably always have more reason to doubt him than Tyler or Lyra, no matter how much he tells her he loves her - at least until she's an adult and can really try to understand things. "Who else would help me sneak in popcorn for the fish?"

She grins, remembering how when she was little they'd always fill their pockets with popcorn to drop into the stream surrounding the monkey island, ignoring the "do not feed" signs. "Okay. I'll go get dressed, too."

xxxx

Lyra's face is smashed against the glass, cheek flattened and one eye closed from pushing so hard. "That's what I wanna be when I grows up, Daddy."

"It's hard to be a glass enclosure, little one." Cam ruffles her hair as she giggles.

"Nooooooo, Daddy! I wanna be a monkey!" She leaps off the small ledge she's kneeling on and starts bouncing around the aisle in front of the lemurs. "Monkey! Monkey! Monkey!"

All of them are amused by Lyra, but Vala seems the most cheered by her. She's tucked under Cam's arm. He won't let her go, it's like he feels like he needs to protect her all the time now. It's suffocating and annoying and insulting and sweet and loving and she loves it.

"She's got such aspirations, honey." Cam smiles down at her. "We could only be so proud to have a monkey for a daughter."

"I will know that she takes primarily after her father then." Vala winks at him and kisses his shoulder.

It's the happiest he's seen her since... since that day. Leave it to Lyra to raise everyone's spirits.

"Mom, can we go look at the penguins next?"

"PENGUINS!" Lyra squeals and grabs Tyler's hand. She pulls him along, knowing the zoo backwards and forwards even though she's only five. He holds his spot and gives her a look. "Oh... Can we, mommy?"

"Adria?" She's looking much happier to Vala. More relaxed, comfortable in her own skin for a minute again. "I think it's your turn to pick."

She pretends to think and her sister is groveling in a adorable and annoying mumble. "I guess we could go to the penguins. But then I want to see the moose."

"THANK YOU!" Lyra screams and returns to pulling Tyler along with her.

Cam calls out at them, "Not too far ahead, you two." He picks up Adria's hand, she feels stiff for a second, but doesn't pull away. Vala stays securely under his arm as they follow slowly behind the two youngest. "My two ladies having a good time?"

Adria gives him a genuine smile. "Thanks... Daddy... for letting me skip too."

"There was no way you were getting to go to school today." He gives Vala a squeeze. "You having fun playing hooky with us?"

"You're the best man I've ever known." He's about to dispute it. "No, Cameron, you really are."

xxxx

Tyler and Lyra need a break after an hour of wandering around. They stop at a food stand and overtake one of the nearby picnic tables. The younger kids are busy making up stories about all the animals they've seen while exploring. Lyra names them all and gives them all roles - mommies, daddies, babies, the doctor chimpanzee, the dentist lion, the bear baseball player...

Vala sits with her chin resting in her hands, arms propped on the table while Cam orders lunch. The little kids get chicken nuggets, Adria and the adults get hamburgers. He gets a triple order of cheese fries and soda for everyone and takes the loaded down tray back over to him.

Tyler and Lyra manage to coerce Adria into their make believe game. Cam listens to her telling her fascinated siblings about how the elephants are really plumbers and he can see that spark of something childlike in her still. It makes him happy, that she still has that... he has a feeling the things she's been finding out about herself and her life lately, plus being a firsthand witness to her mother's miscarriage, has forced her to do more growing up than Cam really wants.

He feels a warm press against his cheek and it jars him out of his reverie.

Vala's kissed him on the cheek and now she's just smiling at him.

"Hey, beautiful," he says, putting his arm around her. She's only eaten half of her burger but she seems finished. Cam wants to push her to eat more but she gets testy when he hovers too much and right now she seems happier than he's seen her in a while. They all do.

"Hi, handsome." She smiles again and rests her head on his shoulder.

Once everyone is done eating, Cam says, "Okay, so. What's next? Otter show, or the petting zoo?"

"Otters!" Adria says.

"Petting!" Lyra demands.

Tyler, caught in the middle, just shrugs.

"Smart boy." Cam grins at him. "Okay, Addy's oldest, so the otter show it is."

Lyra sulks but it only lasts as long as it takes them to get to the otters. Once she sees them running and playing she forgets why she was upset to begin with.

xxxx

By the end of the day, Lyra's asleep in Cam's arms with a stuffed platypus clutched in her arms. Tyler has a toy alligator and Adria has a new pencil case with otters on it.

(Vala fussed at him for spending money to begin with but by the time they left she'd claimed ownership of cute little monkey barrette.)

When they get to the car he has to wake Lyra up to strap her in. "Daddy?" She says, looking at him with sleepy blue eyes. "I love you and Mommy. You're the best Mommy and Daddy."

"We love you, too, sweetheart." Cam kisses her cheek and she smiles, drifting back off to sleep.

Cam knows that Vala hears her, because when he gets into the driver's seat and looks over at her, she has tears in her eyes.

"Are we gonna go home now?"

Tyler's voice shatters the trance the two of them seem to be in. Cam can't stop looking at his wife. The love he feels for her is overwhelming him. Sometimes it gets like that, they get so caught up in each other they forget everything around them.

He doesn't take his eyes off her while he holds his hand, palm up, on the center column. She puts hers in it for a moment and they just touch. "Give us a minute, buddy."

Both of them can hear their son whispering something about it to Adria, but it doesn't matter. "How would you guys feel about spending this weekend with your grandparents?"

The car is still not moving. Their hands are still connected and she offers him a shy grin and a little shake of her head. He mouths back at her that he knows. But this isn't about sex. It's too soon, he gets that, but they need time together. He's just worried about Adria, how she would feel about it.

"Are you sure you guys won't need us?" Ty's always concerned with his mom needing him. Cam knows he was included in the general statement because Tyler doesn't want to hurt his feelings.

Adria's not entirely convinced either. But the only reason Cam knows is because out of the corner of his eye he can see her face pinched as she looks out the window. "It's up to you two, Lyra won't care."

"It's too soon, Cam." Vala finally breaks the gaze and looks back at her oldest. "Too soon?" She's asking her, letting her tell them.

"Mom?" As her oldest daughter she can read her mother quite well already. She also knows that as selfish as she was rumored to be before she was a mother, Vala is one of the best mom's she could ask for. "Do you need time with dad?"

They drop hands and he pulls out of the parking lot, no reason to sit around since the spell seems broken now.

"Yeah..." Tyler looks up at his sister, questioning her with his eyes. But she just shrugs at him. "If you want just dad..."

"I want you all, Ty." She sighs.

Cam looks over and can see her distress. "Kids, sometimes moms and dads need some time to work things out. Losing the..." He doesn't need to finish, they all know what's being left out. "It's hard on everyone. I know that."

"You just want to help mommy more with some quiet times?" Tyler's used to being told to pipe down and keep quiet.

"Yeah, buddy."

He's happy he understands. "'Kay. I don't mind going to grandma and grandpa's this weekend." He's about to turn the floor back over to Addy but quickly adds. "If you're sure you don't really need me too, Momma."

"I think I'll make it, but you're only a short trip away." Vala grins up at Cam. Tyler seems placated with that answer.

"Could I stay with Aunt Sam instead?" Adria's not sure she wants to face her grandparents yet. "I've got a lot of science and math homework..."

Both of them know it's not the reason but let it slide. "We'll give her a call. I'm sure she won't mind."

Once they make it back inside their house, Lyra's up from her nap crawls into Cam's lap while he's on the phone with his parents. She all but demands that he concede the call to her, and starts to tell Wendy all about their adventures at the zoo.

Vala's in the kitchen, enlisting Adria's help to start cooking dinner. Cam plans on volunteering his own services once he's off of the phone.

When Lyra finally runs out of stories, Cam steals the phone back. "So, Mom, do you think you'd mind watching the kids this weekend?"

"Of course not," Wendy says. She rarely gives any other answer. More often, she's the one reminding Cam that they moved to Colorado to be closer to their grandkids and see them more.

"It'll be just Lyra and Ty. Adria wants to stay with Sam," Cam explains. "Something about homework."

He'll tell his parents soon what's really going on with Adria - but not right now, with Tyler playing on the floor and Lyra still treating Cam's lap like it's the comfiest seat in the room.

"I think it's very important that you and Vala spend some private time together," Wendy says. "Make sure you treat her right."

There's not much question that Cam treats Vala right - but with his job, sometimes he still ends up gone more than he'd prefer, and their schedules are often dictated by little league and science club and a variety of other scheduling conflicts that mean they don't get nearly as much alone time as they used to. Every good intention in the world won't half a planetary crisis, and while Vala understands it Cam knows that sometimes their relationship suffers for it.

It does make him all the more confident in his decision to leave behind his position as team leader. He'd spent a year or two missing it - the action of being on the field, the thrill of it. But he hadn't been willing to leave Vala and Adria without the protection of solid ties to earth, and even more importantly he hadn't wanted to leave any of his children without a father.

If an alien empire wages war on the planet over the course of Saturday or Sunday, Cam won't be able to help that either but what he can do is plan for the best case scenario and cross his fingers. "I will, Mom," he promises his mother. "I'll give you a call when we're on our way over tomorrow."

"We gotta go to school tomorrow?" Tyler looks around at Cam, disappointed. "Maybe we could go to the movies instead?"

Cam laughs. "Nice try, but no."

"What was that?" Wendy asks.

"Sorry, Tyler asked me something. But - yeah, I'll give you a call tomorrow afternoon, and we'll pick them back up Sunday."

Cam ends the call happy to report good news to Vala.

"Daddy?" Lyra's looking up at him with her blue eyes bright and mouth turned up in a big smile.

"What's up, munchkin?"

She snuggles in closer to him. "You don't need to have another baby. I can always be you and mommy's baby girl."

"Oh, sweety." Cam's not even sure what to say. He leans over and kisses her forehead. "You'll always be our baby girl, no matter what."

"But if you have another baby I won't be the baby. I will the almost baby." She thinks a bit. And he's afraid she might start to cry. "Mommy's really sad about the baby. I don't want her to be sad."

"I don't want her to be sad either." He gives Lyra a tight hug and she squeezes back just as tightly. "You're a good kid, pumpkin."

"I know, Daddy." She gives him a kiss on the cheek. "You and momma are so lucky to have me."

He lets out a big belly laugh but it's true, they are. "We are. We're very lucky to have you and your brother and sister." She makes a face that says she's not as convinced about those two so Cam starts tickling her.

She's squirming around the couch when Vala comes in to see what the noise is all about. "I thought something was being tortured out here."

Cam lifts Lyra's t-shirt and blows a raspberry on her belly. "Oh there is, baby, the oldest kind of torture known to man." Lyra's looking at him with big eyes as he talks. "Tickle torture!" He starts in again with his fingers on her belly and sides, Lyra squeals with delight.

"Dinner is ready." She picks up her daughter from the couch. "I'll protect you. No more tickle torture from daddy."

She's quick to snuggle up on her mother's shoulder, burying her face against her neck to catch her breath. "I love you, momma."

Vala hugs her tighter. It's like she always knows what to say and do. She's got a gift, this little one. "Love you too, baby girl."

Lyra whispers against her neck. "I told daddy I will always be your baby if you want. Don't gotta have any more."

Cam sees Vala pale and knows that Lyra just gave her the same offer she gave him. He's off the couch in an instant and wrapping his arms around both of catches Tyler's attention.

"It mom okay?" He's left his trucks and standing right next to them now too. He hears her sniffling and it worries him more.

"Fine, Ty, I'm fine." She's not even convincing to herself. "Come here." She holds out her hand and pulls him into the giant hug.

"Mommy?" Lyra's louder this time. "I'm hungry. Is there chicken for dinner?"

Cam shushes her. "Adria! Come out here." She's quick to listen and when she sees them all he can see the hurt in her eyes. "Get in here, honey." There's a smile there as she rushes over to join the family hug, one he hasn't seen in days.

"Now can we eat?" Lyra makes it sound like a chore to hug them all. "So hungry."

"Now we can eat." Cam proclaims.


	13. Chapter 13

Cam remembers the unspoken question she'd directed at him in the car and once they're alone, Tyler and Lyra in bed and Adria in her room, he decides to bring it back up again.

"You know this weekend isn't, I didn't mean to..." He struggles to find a way to word it. "It's not about sex. Or trying again. I just thought maybe we could use a-"

She cuts him off by pressing her mouth to his. "I know. And, yes."

"Yeah?" He wants to make sure.

She nods.

"Because I didn't mean for it to sound like..."

"Cameron." She chides him gently. "I think a weekend just to ourselves is a lovely idea. Just be warned, I will probably coerce you into making me that delicious chicken you're so good at, and running me bath water, and spending copious amounts of time in bed with your arms around me."

He pulls her in for a tight hug. "I can live with that."

"I might cry," she says, like she needs to warn him of that. "There might be tears. And I might.. Cameron..."

Her shoulders shake just a little and this is it, this is what she's been keeping inside of her for so long. He rubs her back and kisses her neck and just holds her. The moment passes and she regains her composure.

He pushes her hair back from her face and smiles at her, sad and so proud at the same time. "If you want the kids back after one night, they don't have to stay gone the whole weekend."

She nods. "We'll see. If you get called away..."

He kisses her forehead and then lowers his head so they're touching, forehead to forehead, noses brushing. "I'm gonna try not to."

"Can we just watch some TV?" He nods against her and leads her over to the couch. Cam settles into the corner and she curls up between his legs. When his arms circle her she holds them tight. She grabs the remote and finds a comedy, something to lighten the mood. "Mind numbing. Perfect."

It's not long after they've let themselves get lost in the program that Adria appears.

"Mom, I called aunt Sam and she's gonna just pick me up from school after she gets Aiden tomorrow." She's just looking at them from the landing on the stairs, waiting for a response. She's surprised that they're sitting so tangled together. Well, not really surprised, it's just strange. Sure they kiss and touch a lot, but it's still unusual to see her father wrapped so tightly around her mother.

Vala checks with Cam first and he nods. "That sounds good. Call one of us when you're with her, alright?"

"Yeah, mom..." It's getting a little annoying how much she has to check in with them. But on her way back to her room she has to pass Lyra's and remembers what happened to her. How she was stolen... Then she's just thankful for the amount of freedom her parents allow her. She's almost back to her room when she remembers that she's got to ask them something.

Adria watches them for a few minutes again wondering if this is normal. Her dad is alternating between nosing her mom's hair and kissing her head. She's leaning all her weight against him and his legs are holding her too. It's really... really intimate looking she guesses.

She goes all the way down for this.

"Thought you were going to bed, Addy?" Cam and Vala decided to let her choose her bed time as long as it was before ten. She's responsible enough to deal with the consequences of a late night. "Something you need to ask?"

"I-" She stops herself.

"Addy, anything you want to know. Anything." Vala gives her a smile that seems to ease the tension.

"I'm an alien?" It's so strange, she doesn't feel like an alien.

"Technically, yes, but baby you're all girl." Cam doesn't want her to worry about more differences. "You're mom's an alien too. I'm not sure that will make you feel any better..."

He gets an elbow for implying being an Alien like her isn't cool before Vala responds. "We're not that different from humans. Just smarter, quicker and hotter."

That makes Adria grin.

"Plus you've been raised here which makes you just as human as the next person on this planet." Cam's upbeat about everything. "I rarely remember Vala isn't from here except when I bring up something from long ago that she should know and doesn't. But you won't have that problem."

Adria seems to think about it a bit. "It is kinda cool." She's not able to share it, but just knowing that there is a reason that she can come up with everything at a little quicker rate is nice. She's not a freak, she's an alien... "Uncle Teal'c is too, isn't he?"

Cam just grins before saying it. "Indeed." Both of them giggle at him. "Anything else you wanna ask honey?"

"No. Not now." She walks back to the steps and turns back. They're both watching her leave. "If you guys need me... If you want company this weekend for anything..."

"We'll call you, sweetheart."

"Thanks, dad. I want to help."

After she's out of earshot Vala turns around and lays on him. She's tired and can't wait for the weekend. "I'm sorry she had to see it." She's trying to block out everything involved with that day. She can't imagine how traumatic it was for Adria.

There's nothing for him to say that isn't redundant so he just holds her tightly and they go back to watching the meaningless show on TV.

"Me, too," Cam says.

He's not sure how this will effect her... now, and in the future, when it really dawns on her what happened. The miscarriage wasn't entirely her fault; hell, it wasn't really her fault at all, but Vala's body had already been on the edge as to whether or not it would sustain the pregnancy and the stress of Adria's outburst had pushed it over.

He kisses Vala again on the her cheek. "She's strong," he says. "Like her mom. She'll get through this."

Vala's clearly lost in thought again because a while passes before she speaks. "We should take her onto the base."

"What?" Cam doesn't quite follow.

"We should let her see the Stargate. Let her see something of where she came from. I don't want to take her offworld... not yet, maybe some day, but... she should know these things."

Cam's gut reaction is to say no, to keep protecting Adria from everything, but he knows Vala's probably right. "We could let her spend the day with Cassie some time, too."

They only see Cassie a few times a year now, when she comes in to spend holidays with Daniel and Sam, but she's in the unique position of having been almost exactly where Adria is. Except Cassie has the benefit of remembering the planet that she came from, and knowing how much better off her life has been on earth as opposed to being left where she was.

Vala likes that idea, too. "Yes... Cassie's wonderful with her, I think that would help, too."

"We'll give Adria whatever she needs to get her used to this," Cam promises Vala. "She's got a family, she's got support."

"But it's still a lot. And she's a little girl." Vala sounds wistful, like she's trying to convince herself of it.

"Well," Cam says, trying to lighten the mood. "At least Lyra's promised to stay a baby forever."

That does make Vala smile. "Yes, she's very accommodating like that. She asked me to give her a bottle when she went to bed, did you hear?"

"Bottles are fine... just don't let her revert back to the diaper thing... I'm fine with my days of chasing a two year old with a diaper full of crap around being over." Cam makes a face.

"Oh, but Daddy did diaper duty so well!" Vala snuggles in closer back to him again, turning so that her forehead is against the crook of his neck. "This show is very stupid."

"I know..." Cam spares the screen a glance. Two bikini clad women are bouncing around. "Nice visuals, though."

Vala elbows him.

xxxx

They beg off dinner with his parents after dropping the kids off. They've had a hard day at work. Cam's still cleaning up the mess from the week before. When someone doesn't make it back alive it's always hard on everyone, but he's the one that has to deal with the family, the paperwork and the rest of the men and women on the team that lost a colleague.

All he wants right now is his wife. She's been working hard as well. There is too much dark color under her eyes and he just wants to get her home. Her body seems to be recovered, no more bleeding, no more cramping. It feels like it's been forever ago that everything happened.

"Baby, you look tired." He clasps her hand as they walk from the car to the house. Pulls her closer and loops his arm around her shoulders, never letting go of her hand.

She's exhausted. "It's good that it's friday." Admitting weakness has never been easy for her, even to Cameron. "About that chicken..."

"I've got all the stuff." He kisses her temple as they make it into the house. "You go shower, put on some pajama's and I'll make us some dinner. Sound good?"

She pulls him back as he starts to walk to the kitchen and kisses his lips. "How did I manage to get such a wonderful man?" Her grin is tired, but sincere, as she looks up at him. It really stuns her sometimes how much he loves her. How much she loves him.

"By being so hot, of course." He kisses her again. "No get going." As he's leaving again her hand connects with his ass.

"That's for being cheeky." He's coming back to retaliate but she's quick and races upstairs to get in the shower before he can get her.

xxxx

The water is hot, almost too hot, but she likes it - the burning. It's like a cleansing. She cries, sobs, glad that he's not here to witness this. Knowing that he knew she needed it too. Her tears mingle with the water, washing down the drain immediately so she can forget. She scrubs herself harshly, as she imagines a rape victim would but it wasn't someone else that hurt her. It was her own body that betrayed her. It took something from her, something she wanted. Something she needed. She didn't even know how much until it wasn't hers any longer.

xxxx

He's putting together their food when she appears. Her face is pink from the heat of her shower and she's wearing some flannel pajama pants and one of his t-shirts. She looks so small and fragile. It breaks his heart every time she lets him see this. How disappointed she is in herself. He knows she is shouldering all the blame. Cam's doing his best not to add to it. He doesn't blame her at all, there are things that happen, maybe for a reason. It's not her fault and he's very careful to make sure it never comes out that way.

"Made your favorite, honey." Her face crumples a bit and he barley has his arms apart before she's in them. He's holding her tight, giving her all the comfort he can. "I promise it tastes fine, no need to be upset about it. I know-"

"Shush." She doesn't want to eat. Not because she's not hungry, because she doesn't want to let go. There are no kids around to interrupt them. She needs her husband, so much, until right now she didn't even see how deep it cut, how much healing there was left for them to do. "I'm sorry I lost our baby."

He's not upset by her lack of appetite. The chicken will be fine reheated, right now this is the most important thing - this, her, in his arms. He is willing to stand there holding her for as long as she needs to be held, saying the words that she needs to hear.

"Vala, this was not your fault." He makes sure his voice is loud and firm, no hesitation, enough authority in it to try and drive away all of her doubts. "You know what Carolyn said. It was all about hormones, conditions just weren't quite right. You did not do anything that caused us to lose this baby. No one blames you. I don't blame you."

Vala trembles against him, tears dampening his shirt. Her fingers clutch at the material across his back with a grip that would be painful on bare skin. "I lost it. It was my body that rejected it."

"Vala, honey, sometimes bad things happen. I know it hurts. It hurts me, too. We wanted this, and we can try again. Carolyn said... she said there was something you could take, some sort of hormone pill, it would keep the levels where they need to be. If you want to try again, some time.. any time. And if you don't, that's okay. We have three beautiful kids, and if that's all we ever have then I'll still be the happiest guy on this planet." He lets his words run quiet, trying to judge if he's saying the right things or not, if he's just upsetting her more.

She sniffles and her grasp on his shirt lessens just a little. "I don't know. I think, sometimes, that I just want to... to go ahead and try again, but if it didn't work... I know what Carolyn said, but if it didn't..."

If it didn't, it would hurt too badly. Cam understands that so well. "I know." He pulls back a little and uses his thumbs to wipe her tears away. "It's not like you have to decide today. Offer doesn't expire, honey. You know that."

"If we do, I don't want to tell the kids until we're past the point that something could go wrong," Vala says. "I'm not saying I want to - we don't even know that it would work. I don't want them to go through the loss and disappointment again."

Cam wants to protest, remembering what Carolyn had said, but wisely he doesn't say anything. It's up to Vala to decide when she thinks it can work. He can see her getting upset again.

He kisses her, not to shut her up, but just because he doesn't know how else to really truly let her know how he feels. He tries to pour all of the love, anguish, the faith in her and in them, the hope that he feels into the kiss and he thinks that some of it comes through.

"Hungry now?" He asks, smiling a little.

She looks at him and nods. "Can we take the food and eat it in there? The table setup is lovely, I just..."

She wants to be closer to him, doesn't want a table between them, but she can't bring herself to say it.

Cam gets it, though. He knows her well enough.

They grab trays and he loads the plates onto it while she gets there drinks. Wine - she grabs the bottle too - and them they settle on the couch, side by side while they eat.


	14. Chapter 14

Three bottles of wine later Vala is feeling the effects. Drinking her problems away has never been something she's been good at, but this time she was determined. However the bottle emptied into her glass, she gulps it down and then Cam stops her from getting another.

"I think you've had enough." He's still on the sober side of life and it's been a little painful watching his wife try to drown herself in alcohol. "Talk to me..."

"Can we go to bed?" Suddenly she's exhausted. She just wants to sleep. More importantly, she wants to be held - wants his hands on her skin.

He's getting up to clean up after their dinner. "Yeah, baby, you go on up. I just want to clean this up."

"Kiss me." There's a big grin on her face and he leans over her, just hovering.

"Where, my dear drunk wife, do you want to be kissed?" Cam teases and kisses her forehead.

"Lips." He's about to do it. "Use tongue."

That makes him chuckle before he covers her mouth with his, plunging his tongue in - as requested. He can taste the wine on her tongue. Her fingers are rubbing at his neck and she's moaning into his mouth. He pulls back before she can take anything further. "Good?"

"Mmmm, yes." She watches him go into the kitchen. All she feels is a buzz surrounding her and a throbbing in her chest that seems to be how much she loves that man. She wiggles off the couch and manages to get herself upstairs, stripping out of her clothes as she goes. "No kids... I can sleep naked."

Cam gives her some time, washing all the dishes before heading up. He turns off the lights and finds her shirt on the stairs. He picks up the trail of clothing that leads to their bedroom and tosses them in the hamper. She's already snuggled under the covers when he gets in and starts getting ready for bed as well. He's not sure if she's already asleep or not.

When he goes to get out his pajama pants she finally makes noise. "No clothes, darling. Naked."

"Honey... This isn't about... that." Cam doesn't want her to try to hide her feelings in sex. Not that he's not turned on by his wife. That is never the problem. He can't do that to them, though. Getting off right now won't make her feel better when she sobers up and he knows that.

She makes a whiney noise. "Skin on skin." The covers are flipped up so she can expose the expanse of her naked back and ass. "Come spoon me, please."

If it wasn't for what she was requesting he'd be sure he was having a tiff with Lyra. "Alright, baby." He strips off his boxers and climbs in behind her. She wiggles back against him and he settles his hand on her belly. "This good?"

"Touch me." She can tell he's hesitant and she tries not to let herself feel hurt. "Is it because I lost it?"

"Oh, baby..." He lets his hand start moving. He's lightly caressing everywhere he can reach. Cam is careful not to make it sexual. A firm enough touch not to rev her engine. He avoids her nipples and the vee of her legs. But everything else is fair game. "I love you. I don't want tonight to be about hiding our feelings behind orgasms. You'd be upset in the morning."

"But right now I'd really like an orgasm." She's reaching between her own legs and he stops her. She whimpers now. and he swears that he hears a sniffle. "I just want to feel good."

Cam stops moving his hand and just holds tight to hers against her belly. He tugs her as close as possible to his chest. "If you still want to feel good in the morning, when you sober up. I'll see what I can do." He kisses her neck. "How does that sound."

"Not drunk." Vala pouts, determined to have her way.

"Sure." He plays over her fingers and that seems to distract her, calm her nerves a bit. "Just for the record. I always want you too. I'm just trying to be a good husband right now." She quiets after that. Her breathing seems to slow and he's not sure if she's gone to sleep yet.

"Cam?"

That answers that. "Yeah, baby?"

"Are you sure you still love me even though I lost the baby?"

God, she breaks his heart sometimes. "I love you so much, Vala. I don't think you can ever understand how much."

"Much as I love you, I bet." Her words are slurring more now. Aided by drink and exhaustion. "That's a lot."

"I'll never stop loving you. Never." He kisses her right under her ear. "Even if you stopped loving me."

This seems to actually content her. She makes a sleepy noise and he can feel her yawning. "That'll never happen. Love you forever."

"Good. Now go to sleep, love." He hears her mumble her agreement and knows that sleep has actually taken over.

xxxx

Vala wakes up in the morning with a headache and a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

She remembers asking - almost begging - Cam to fuck her, to touch her, to make her feel something. There's a flurry of panic in her at the idea of that. What if he'd said yes? What if she'd gotten pregnant again? She's not back on birth control. She curls up on the bed and hugs her pillow to her, grateful and terrified at the same time by the way he'd said no.

She's barely even thought of sex since the miscarriage. It's only been just over a week, and half of that time her body was still ridding itself of the last vestiges of pregnancy. She hasn't felt aroused, doesn't even think that's what she felt the night before. She'd just wanted so damn much to prove to herself that he still loved her just the same. Sex has always worked between them, even when they barely had time to have it, it's never been something they shied away from for any reason besides time constraints.

She still wants Cam to touch her, but the idea of risking another pregnancy...

"Morning, honey," Cam says, sticking his head in the door. He's got a glass of orange juice in one hand and a bottle of aspirin in the other. "Brought you something."

She looks at him and feels miserable and hungover. He can tell right away and his expression goes sympathetic. "Get up, take something for your head, and come downstairs with me. I set up breakfast outside, we can enjoy the morning."

"I don't think I want-"

Cam interrupts her. "Non negotiable."

"But-"

He puts the glass and the pills down on the night stand. "Ten minutes, or I'm coming back for you."

He turns and walks away. Once he's at the doorway she speaks up. "I want to shower first."

"Okay. Give you fifteen, then."

xxxx

It's almost twenty minutes later when she shows up downstairs, but Cam lets that slide. Her hair pulled back, still damp, and she's wearing yoga pants and a tank top. There are circles under her eyes but she feels a bit more presentable.

Still embarrassed, though. Still upset at herself and realizing that drinking hadn't done anything to solve any of the problems she'd had.

Cam has what he always calls a real southern breakfast laid out for her. Bacon, biscuits, fried hash browns, It settles her rolling stomach somewhat but she eats quietly, not really saying anything to him. Cam wishes he knew what the right thing now to say was.

"It wasn't you," he says. "Last night. That's the only reason I didn't."

"Cameron, you don't have to-"

"No, Vala, I want you to know that. I just didn't want to give you something you weren't really asking for. I'm not a mind reader, but even I could tell that you weren't really okay with that."

"Sex, Cameron," Vala says. "I think we're both grown up enough to say the word."

"Yeah, sex. But I meant what I said. If you still want it and you're sober..."

The shame almost chokes her again. She puts down the slice of bacon she'd been about to eat and her eyes fill with tears. Cam is out of his chair and beside her in a heartbeat. "I'm not," she says, gasping against the tears. "I'm sorry, I'm not."

He wraps his arms around her, hugging her tightly. "Vala, that's ok. It hasn't been that long. There's no hurry, you don't owe me anything. You don't need to feel bad. You're grieving, we both are. There's no schedule we're on. And you don't need sex for me to hold you."

He feels like after this long of a marriage she should know that, but he also knows how loss can cloud the rational mind. He's seen it over and over, team members and friends gone from his life, and this baby is no different - even if it wasn't even really a baby yet, they're mourning the loss of another member of their family.

There aren't many things that Vala would change about her life. Only mostly minor, petty things. Except Lyra's abduction and Adria's parentage nothing else major really comes to mind. She's lucky. Lucky to have Cam. Lucky to be on Earth, lucky to be able to be a proper mom to three kids and a good wife to their dad. This is the first time in a long while that she's felt anything this dark. This jarring.

"I don't know what's wrong with me..."

Cam hugs her tighter. "We lost a baby." He feels her shudder in his arms and begin weeping again. "A child. One that we already loved despite not even really knowing it yet."

"And then I lost it." She cries harder. "I lost what we loved... Me."

Cam doesn't know how to help her. He's not sure if anyone can yet. He just needs to support her and make sure she keeps going. "We don't know why, honey. There was a reason, one we don't know, that we didn't get to have that baby. But it's not your fault. No one, including me, blames you even a little."

She turns into his arms, the chair she's in getting in her way, and hugs him tighter. She feels sick, her stomach is churning and her head is pounding and now her heart is aching again. "I'm sorry."

"There is no reason to be sorry. Vala, none." Cam somehow manages to stand up and he picks her up with him. He opens the door and carries her into the house, toward the couch where he sits and holds her on his lap. "Do you just need me to hold you?"

She tightens her grip around his neck and nods against him.

"Then I will. For as long as you need." Cam strokes her back, soothing long caresses, with one hand while the other just keeps a strong and steady grip around her waist. There was no indication that she needed this, this badly. He's so glad he had the kids sent away this weekend. Her healing is the most important thing right now. There's a lot more shit to deal with but he can't do any of it without her. Even if he could, Cam doesn't want to. She's his rock, his touchstone, his constant. "Love you, forever."

Her reply is muffled against his neck but he knows she repeated his words. Eventually her cries soften and her grip lightens. She's fallen back asleep on him, but it doesn't matter, He's not letting go first.

xxxx

She naps for almost an hour, her body worn out, but when she wakes up her control seems to be back.

They finish the breakfast Cam had made. The biscuits reheat well and the bacon is still good, even if the hash browns are cold and not really fit for consuming. They spend the rest of the day just watching television, talking about things - not the big things, not the miscarriage or Adria, just... things. Cam talks her into a few rounds of video games and she naps beside him again while he handles some work on his laptop. They make dinner together, working side by side in the kitchen, and at the end of the day they sleep tucked closely together in their bed.

xxxx

The next morning they get in the car and go to pick up the children. They get Adria first, deciding that it's the perfect opportunity to spend some private time with her.

She seems surprised not to see Tyler or Lyra there, and a little wary. "Is everything okay?"

"We thought we'd take you out to lunch, if that's ok," Cam says.

If she says no, they'll just go straight to Cam's parents.

He really hopes she doesn't say no.

She just sort of shrugs. "Can we go to that place with the noodles I like?"

"Absolutely," Vala says. "How did your weekend with Sam go?"

Adria starts to talk about the things they'd done - she helped Aiden make a volcano and then Daniel taught her some basic Russian. "He said I picked it up pretty fast. Mom, do we have another language that we speak? Wherever you're from?"

"There are other languages. If you'd like, I can teach you some Ancient."

"Ancient?" Adria sounds bewildered. "That's a weird thing to call a language."

Vala laughs. "Yes, well. There are many 'weird things' in the universe."

"Who else is an alien?" She asks. "Are there more of us here?"

"Where your father works? Yes, there are some. Would you like to meet them?"

"I don't know," Adria says. "I'll think about it."

Cam pulls the car into the parking lot at Adria's favorite noodle place. "Cassie wasn't born on earth."

"Cassie?" Adria sounds surprised. "But she's so normal."

"Hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but you're pretty normal too." Cam pats her shoulder as they go in. "Besides the genius IQ, that is."

They order food and sit in the back corner, a little more privacy for them to talk. Vala starts in, more eager than she suspected she would be to talk to her about everything. "You've got good genes. I mean look at how lovely your mother is. Smart too!"

Addy just smiles and nods before she has a mouth full of pad thai. "Really, Cassie?"

"Yup, honey. She had it pretty bad for a bit but everything has worked out well for her." Cam passes some of his noodles to Vala, happy to see that she's gained her usual appetite back, at least for right now. "You're lucky, in a way, you don't remember a lot of what happened when you were younger."

"The technology was much better for you, baby." Vala adds. "We're going to bring you in, if you want. Show you some things."

Adria doesn't need that much time to think. "I... Yeah, I think I want to know more." It's frightening to realize that it all wasn't just a misunderstanding. Every moment of her life the fact that she's an alien becomes more real. "I'm just..."

"It's alright to be overwhelmed, baby girl." Cam knows how overwhelming everything at the SGC can be. He was a grown man when he learned about what went on there and it still scared him. "We can go as slow as you need."

"Thanks, dad."

Nothing gives him more relief and joy then hearing her call him dad again. There was awhile where he felt like he'd heard the moniker for the last time. "Mom and I want to be 100% honest with you."

"But you have to understand, Adria." Vala gives her a pointed stare. "Nothing that is discussed can ever be shared. We're trusting you a lot here. If you speak of it to anyone besides the people we tell you..."

"Bad things can happen." Cam finishes. "To a lot of good people, including your family. It's a big responsibility."

Her brow furrows as she concentrates on everything they are saying. Can she keep quiet? She doesn't really talk about her science stuff with anyone but her teachers and Sam. Her friends at school only talk about boys, movies and how to save baby seals. "I'll be able to do that, mom and dad."

"You're sure?" Vala asks. "Not even you brother or sister can know."

"I can talk to Aunt Sam?"

"Yes, she can know everything." Cam starts and then corrects himself, "She knows everything. Mom and I, plus anyone you see on base and Cassie. But you have to be out of earshot with specifics."

It feels really good - her mom and dad putting that much trust in her. She's not sure she's earned it lately. The way she treated her dad when she found out... "Daddy?"

"Yeah, honey?"

"Did you..." She doesn't know how to ask. "When you fell in love with mom, did you really love me too?" Even if the answer hurts she has to know.

"Of course." Cam doesn't care how many times they have to tell her, he'll happily do it. "I feel in love with you first. Your mother was much harder to court. All I had to do with you was carry you up and down the hall, rock you in my arms, make sure mom had enough rest to feed you when you were hungry, and to change the diaper when it was dirty. You were much less demanding."

He gets another elbow in the side for his effort. "He loved you from the moment he saw you bundled in my arms in the the corner..." She looks over at him and they share a moment remembering that time. The day he pulled her into his arms and carried her onto that transport.

"Hey, Vala, love..." He wipes the tear from her cheek. "I'd have found you no matter what."

"I want that to be true." She really does, she thanks the stars that she was in the right place at the right time for his rescue and that it was Cam and not a different member of the team to find her.

"This isn't just luck, it's fate."

Adria's happily smiling watching how much her parents love each other. It gives her hope that one day she'll be able to find someone, even though she's an alien. Her dad doesn't even notice that about her mother. It feels good to know it's possible for her too.

Adria has another question to ask, something that hadn't occurred to her until this weekend. "Why am I special? What did they do to me?"

Cam lets Vala field this one. "We don't really know. I met your father - and Sam and Daniel and Teal'c - in a strange way."

"She tried to steal one of earth's ships," Cam interrupts, grinning.

Adria's eyes wide. "That story was real?"

She remembers growing up hearing her parents tell her, and later on Tyler and then Lyra, bedtime stories of their mom as a space pirate but they'd always just assumed they were made up stories to satisfy the imaginations of little kids.

Vala huffs at Cam. "Well, it seemed like a perfectly reasonable move to make from my point of view. But no matter how we met - we did. And at the time, there was a rather nasty group of ascended beings trying to break their way into our galaxy."

She pauses while a waiter goes by, probably not in ear shot but she doesn't want to risk it.

"I wasn't planning on staying on earth at all but I happened to discover that there were a few things about this planet I liked."

"Dad?" Adria says, assuming.

"No..." Vala smiles. "That came later. Initially, it was the chocolate."

"Chocolate?"

"And shopping, and all the wonder implements for styling your hair, and - well, the Goa'uld were technologically advanced but they focused their advancements on other areas."

"Who are the Goa'uld?" Adria asks. She's all but forgotten about the food in front of her, too greedy for knowledge about her origins.

"One story at a time," Vala says. Cam reaches over and puts his hand on her shoulder, squeezing lightly. He knows this is both difficult and rewarding; he can't imagine having to hide who you are from your children, but she's had to. "I would probably have left earth soon, but only a few months after arriving the Ori were threatening to build a large gateway to our planet so I-"

"Did something really stupid," Cam interjects.

"Did something impossibly brave, and stopped it. But upon doing so... I was sent to another galaxy and while there I married a man."

Adria's jaw drops. "You were married before Dad?"

Vala glances at Cam. He knows her marriage history but she's not sure Adria's quite ready for the whole story - or six stories - yet. "Yes. I married a man named Tomin because I discovered I was pregnant, and this village wasn't the sort to take kindly to an unmarried woman with child."

"Did you love him?" She seems almost offended by the idea.

"No. I was fond over him. He was a good man, if a bit blind to his faith, and he'd have been a good husband but I didn't love him. When I was nine months pregnant he was conscripted to be a soldier and took me on the Ori ship with him. That's where your father found us - the day I gave birth, just hours after. The rest of the team-"

"Team?"

"Yes, we were a team," Cam says. "SG-1 was our designation. Me, Sam, Daniel, Teal'c... we went through the Stargate to other planets. Saved people, kicked some alien butt."

"Got your butts kicked by some aliens." Vala smiles at him teasingly.

"You run the SGC," Adria points out. "So you don't go to other planets anymore?"

"No, I got bumped upstairs a few years back. They offered it to me and I accepted. It's a dangerous job... I didn't want to risk it anymore."

"What do you do when you go to work, Mom?"

"I help Daniel with translations," she says. "I speak a few languages - some better than him."

"Really?" That's hard for Adria to swallow, since Daniel speaks more languages than anyone else she knows.

"Yes, really." She still isn't ready to explain Qetesh, but Adria doesn't question her again.

She's exited now. Her parents are cool, well, she always knew that but... This is just beyond the cool she knew about already.

Her face is lit up with joy and Cam knows that they made a good decision to tell her. "You're mom's almost as smart as she thinks she is." The elbow gets blocked this time and he raises an eyebrow at his wife.

Adria's giggling. "Well, Dad, no one is that smart."

"You two, ganging up on me now?" Vala acts hurt but both of them know it's nothing more than that.

Adria takes a few bites, thinking about her next questions. "You really don't know, do you?" Who her father is. Both of them here the whole question.

Vala frowns and shakes her head. There's an arm tugging her close and she gives Cameron a sad little smile. "I wish..."

"It's alright mom." She looks between them. The love there always makes her feel good but right now she feels like she truly understands some of what they've gone through together. "My dad is right in front of me. The other doesn't matter."

She can count the times on one hand that she's seen her father cry. Right now she has to add a second hand. His face crumples in front of her. Even though he's quick to hide his face against her mom who's now now comforting him. Vala waves at her to get over there and Adria slinks under the table and pops up between them. She's pulled into a tight hug and she hugs them back.

"You don't know..." Cam sniffles and kisses Addy's head. "You don't know how much that means to me, baby girl."

She's pretty sure she does. Everything feels lighter right now for her. She's got a dad. Even if he doesn't share an ounce of DNA with her he gives her a lot more than a lot of kids dads do.

Vala's lips are against her ear. "Thank you, honey. Thank you."

"I'm sorry about yelling at you, mom." She swallows hard, feeling like she's going to cry now. "Making you lose the baby..."

"Oh, God, honey, that wasn't your fault." Cam's quick to end that train of thought. He doesn't need to of his girls falling into that pit of blame. "It wasn't anyone's fault. Sometimes bad things happen. Even when people aren't angry or hurt. Even if we were all quiet and happy..." He doesn't finish the sentence. He feels Vala's shoulders tightening under his arm.

"How about we get out of here?" Cam can see people starting to stare and it's time to get the other two kids anyway. "We can talk more later."


	15. Chapter 15

It's been a week since the lunch where they started telling Adria everything. She's had endless questions about her mom's past and what Cam still does. He's had to jump through some hoops but finally has permission to take her where ever he feels he needs to. They still need to talk about how much they'll lay on her at once but at least they can use props now.

Cam walks into their room, late. It's past midnight and Vala is sitting up reading. "I was starting to think you'd gone off world and forgotten to tell me." She sets the book down and watches him. He looks particularly exhausted and her joke seems to fall flat. "Rough day, darling?"

"We had a scare today." He tosses off his shirt. before sitting on the bed to untie his shoes. Her hand's flat on his back, rubbing, as she rests her chin on his shoulder. Her lips graze his cheek and it instantly makes it a little better. "We thought there were Ori signals being broadcast again."

She gasps, not expecting that at all. "Was it?" Everything about the Ori broadcasting makes her afraid for Adria. No matter how many times they test the device and find it's the same as the day it was installed, she still worries.

"No, just some rogue Jaffa looking to stir up trouble. They claim they found it on P3T-219. Teal'c went to check it out and it looked like an Ori graveyard." Cam leans back into her touch and turns to look at her. "That's why I was so late. Couldn't come home until I heard from him."

"Get in bed." Vala leans back and lays down under the blankets. He finishes getting ready and slides in next to her. "What time do you have to be in tomorrow... er today?" Her fingers glide along his arms, chest, face and stomach. His body is finally relaxing.

"Seven hundred hours. Debriefing and planning to go do some clean up." Flipping over onto his belly he rests his head on her breast, arm curling around her waist and hugging her tightly. "You're warm."

No matter how many times they end up laying like this, Vala never gets tired of it. When she can comfort him, offer him place to find solace, she loves it. Her fingertips tease his scalp. Running silky, short strands of hair between them.

"You need sleep." She kisses the crown of his head. "Love you."

"Mmmm." He's already drifting off against the comfort of her body. "Got permission for Addy today too."

"She'll be happy."

Cam yawns. "Hope so. Love you." Then he's asleep.

It takes a little bit longer for sleep to claim Vala. She can't get Cam's words out of her head - an Ori scare. The Ori haven't truly threatened them in years, having moved on to other parts of the universe once their attempt at making an Orici had failed.

Or at least been stopped before it could succeed.

Until the Ori are completely gone, they'll always be in the back of Cam and Vala's mind. It's a blessing and a curse at the same time. Because they know, they can prepare, unlike so much of the world... but it weighs on them constantly.

She's relieved that this time it wasn't a worst case scenario. This time it was just idiotic Jaffa having no idea what sort of thing they were messing with. Adria's safe and sound in her bed, and so are Tyler and Lyra.

Everyone is safe.

Her husband.

Her children.

They're all safe. She turns onto her side and looks at Cam, at his profile as he sleeps hard after a long day. Her chest tightens and she feels that sense of wonder and misery at the same time, knowing how wrecked she'd be if she ever lost him, knowing how hard it would be to go on but that she would - she would have to.

xxxx

The next morning Cam is up early, off to finish cleaning up the messes at the SGC. She makes breakfast for the kids, checks backpacks for completed homework, oversees the making of lunches and doles out snack money. It's the same routine she goes through every morning but this time she says, "Adria, I'll drive you to school. All of you, actually."

Adria doesn't really mind riding the bus, but she can see that this is more about her mother than it is her. "Sure," she says, smiling at Vala.

Once Tyler and Lyra have been dropped off at their elementary school Vala continues on to the junior high. She drives slowly, and takes a side road.

"Mom?" Adria asks. "I'm gonna be late for school."

"I know," Vala says. "I'll write you a note."

"Okay..." Adria gives her mother a worried look. "Is everything okay?"

"I don't know." Vala gives her an honest answer. "Is it? How are you? How's your head?"

"Fine..." Adria starts to worry for real, now. "Why? Mom, what is it?"

"Nothing. I just... want to make sure. I couldn't ask you before, you didn't remember."

"I remember having surgery," Adria says. "I was having a surgery when Tyler was born."

"Do you remember, or just remember being told?" Vala asks.

Adria looks lost. "I guess I don't know. I always though I just had bad dreams when I was little."

"But you do remember. You remember the bad dreams? Enough to know if it happens again?"

"Yeah," Adria says, thinking she knows what's bothering her mother now. "Mom, I'd remember. I'd know."

"Okay. Good. Because if you ever-"

"I know," Adria says. Something about it makes her not even want to hear her mother say the word. That she could do bad things... or that something could happen to her and her family would be in danger... it makes her want to cry but she needs to be strong for her mom.

Vala's relieved. She pulls up to Addy's school and gets out with her, hugs her fiercely and sends her off to class with a note. "Have a good day, sweetheart."

It's a little embarrassing but that's alright. Her mom loves her and she'd rather get too much love publicly then none at all. She waves her goodbye and runs in late to class with a few other stragglers. (Probably ones without a note)

xxxx

The base is bustling like usual when Vala arrives. She's a bit behind her normal schedule but no one really keeps track. She settles down at her desk and pulls out the scroll she's trying to translate. It's old and dusty and something Daniel would enjoy immensely - if only he knew how to read this language. She grins just thinking about his reaction when she'd spouted off the first sentence. It's the only time being Qetesh has provided a bit of good luck. That and the naquadah in her blood. She could probably live just fine without it.

Time passes quickly for her and she doesn't even notice that it's lunch time until a tray is suddenly in front of her.

"Hey, baby." Cam grins as she eyes the big piece of cake in the back. "Thought we could eat some lunch."

"You should have picked me up. I would have gone to the cafeteria with you." Vala munches on a carrot and smiles up at him. "A girl can't while the day away cooped up in a dusty old room."

Cam pulls the extra chair over and sits across from her, digging in to his portion before replying. "I looked in and you were concentrating so hard you didn't even hear me. Thought it must be important to you so I just decided I'd bring the food to you. Instead of vice versa."

"At least you didn't forget the cake."

"That's mine..." She glares and he can't hold his laughter back. "Well, I guess I could share."

They don't need constant conversation, the silence between them is rarely ever awkward and sometimes Cam enjoys her most when he can just observe her. By now he knows her, her habits, her quirks, her everything, but it still gives him great pleasure to just watch. The way she picks at her food even though she ends up eating it all anyway.

She'll sneak bites of cake between bites of sandwich. The smile she gets around her fork when he catches her is one of his favorite. The 'I'm-not-guilty-I-just-love-cake-eating' grin. When they're alone he'll kiss the excess chocolate from her mouth, now he just watches as her own tongue swipes the bit of frosting that lingers on her lips.

"Gotta work late tonight." She groans. "I'll order chinese and pick it up on my way home."

"I do enjoy your style of graveling when you aren't home on time." She can just spend time with the kids, not concern herself with dinner that way. "Not too late, I hope."

"Shouldn't be too bad, just have a few things to wrap up."

xxxx

Cam doesn't really have to work late. He's actually out of the building not long after Vala. She leaves around four each day, Adria's old enough to hang out with Tyler for a couple hours and Lyra goes to her grandparents until Vala picks her up. Today he's got a surprise for her. For all of them, but mostly for Vala.

He spends half an hour walking around the animal shelter. There aren't too many other people there; a couple of families looking at puppies, and volunteers taking the dogs for walk.

"So what kind of dog are you looking for?" One of the volunteers asks him.

"Kid friendly," he says, knowing that it's important to state that up front. "Doesn't have to be a puppy, but not too old. We've got a five year old... I want something that can keep up with her."

The volunteer nods knowingly, and takes him to an area with a rows of cages. "Is size a matter?"

"Nothing too small..." It's his own personal preference, he likes dogs that remind him of being at his grandparents farm in the summer. Big mutts with happy, friendly personalities.

She stops in front of one puppy that immediately looks up at Cam with big, bright blue eye and whines. "This guy came in a couple weeks ago. He's had all of his shots and he was neutered on Monday."

"Does he have a name?" Cam kneels, since the puppy's cage is on the bottom.

"We've been calling him Rocket, but he hasn't really learned it yet... we're not sure what his previous owners named him, so you could change it."

"Rocket, huh?" Cam smiles at the puppy. "Can I get him out?"

"Absolutely!" She undoes the latch and the puppy yawns and shakes its little body then happily charges at Cam.

"What is he? Looks like he's got some Husky in him. Those eyes..." Cam scritches the puppy behind the ears and his tail thumps the ground.

"He's a mix, probably a lab and Husky but we're not entirely sure... if you want, you can take him to one of our rooms or outside for a walk."

"Yeah," Cam says. "Let me take him out."

xxxx

Thirty minutes later, after one very enthusiastic game of fetch and the dog proving his energy levels to be a match for Lyra and Tyler, Cam decides that Rocket will do. He signs all the paperwork he needs, pays the adoption fee, then drives to the pet store to pick up some puppy necessities.

xxxx

By the time he's actually on his way home he's in danger of missing dinner, and minus a fairly hefty chunk of money. He's sure Vala will want to go shopping again anyway, but Rocket - or whatever his name will be - is at least set up with food and water bowls, puppy chow, a collar and leash, and a few toys so he hopefully won't chew up anything important.

He calls Vala. "Hey, baby, I'm just gonna hit the drive through instead. Want anything special?"

"No, a hamburger is fine," she says. He can hear the television on behind her and the kids talking. Someone is whining for food, and it makes Cam laugh. She comes back and says, "Extra fries. Tyler insists."

"And ice cream! Lyra shouts into the phone.

"It'll melt! You'd have to drink it," Vala tells her.

"I wanna drink ice cream!" Tyler immediately says, and Cam can just picture them all struggling to talk into the phone.

"Yes to extra fries, no to ice cream soup," Cam says. "I'll be home soon, love you."

He orders three kids meals and Vala's burger and his own meal and then puts the bag beside the puppy carrier. The dog immediately smells the food and begins to paw at the plastic of his carrier and whine, clearly wanting whatever smells so tasty.

Cam pulls out a fry and sticks it between the bars. It's gone in a blink and the puppy whines at him for more. "Nuh uh, buddy. I'm not starting you on people food this soon. It's the kids you gotta train to give you treats."

His cute little fuzzy face, gray and white, seems perfectly suited for that. Cam doesn't think he'll have much trouble.

In a fit of genius he decides to leave the dog in the car. Just for a minute while he runs in the food.

"Honey!" He hollers when he walks in. "I'm home!"

All three children are rushing him and he holds out his arms for hugs but Tyler grabs the bag of food and they all divert to the table to dole it out.

His look of utter disbelief makes Vala grin. "Food is the way to anyone's heart, my darling Cameron. But It only triggers the big feelings after it's been consumed." She leans up and kisses his cheek. "Welcome home."

He hugs her into his side and nuzzles his nose against her ear. There's a bit of nervousness about his surprise. He hopes it's not too soon for her, but he's banking on the pup to win her over. It's not a replacement for the baby, not really. Nothing can replace that, but it's adorable and in need of a lot of love and affection, nurturing and teaching. Vala has plenty of all of that to give. All of them do.

"Oh, dang." Cam's letting his hand slip down her back as he pulls away. "With all the food to carry I forgot my work in the car. Back in a jiffy, baby."

"Better hurry or your dinner will find itself side by side with mine." Vala pats her stomach for effect.

She's not kidding around as she walks to the table to dig out her meal.

He snaps the leash on and lets Rocket out of the carrier. They'll have to buy a crate for home, at least until he grows up enough to be trusted, but for now they'll have to deal with the this thing. He leaves all the supplies and Rocket leads the way to the door.

"You got good eyesight too, huh buddy?" The dog looks at him quizzically as he waits on Cam to open the door. "Ready for this?" He almost seems to smile and nod and Cam's wondering if it's some sort of excited haze speaking or if Rocket can mysteriously understand him.

The door opens and the kids aren't paying attention at all. He shuts it behind him and Vala turns. "Took you-"

Her hand covers her mouth and there's a high pitched sound that he's pretty sure only Rocket can hear after a second. "Hey, baby, kids - Surprise!"

"Oh my god! Daddy!" Lyra's up and out of her chair first and Ty and Addy are right behind her. All three kids run at the puppy and he's pulling hard to run back at them. They tumble to their knees and Rocket makes the rounds bathing everyone's faces with loving laps of his tongue. He flops over on his belly and Cam lets the leash down.

"Meet Rocket, kids." Cam smiles across them, not looking at anyone but his wife. "Surprise."

Vala grabs his cheeks and kisses him. "You shouldn't have..."

Now there is a fear that this isn't something that she wanted. "Really?"

Her arms hug him and she's shaking her head. "No, I love him. Love you." After she's given her husband enough attention and the kids time to get over the initial excitement she kneels down and Rocket seems to know. Know who the real caretaker in the house is. He wags his tail impossibly fast and trots over to Vala. His paws climb onto her thigh and he tilts his head, looking into her eyes before nudging her hand with his nose.

He's so soft, so small and so adorable. His blue eyes pierce right into her heart and even if she hadn't approved nothing would allow her to send that dog back after looking into his eyes. "Hello, Rocket. Welcome to the family." He seems to accept her welcome and lays down with his head on her leg and offering his belly for a rub.

"Come on kids, help me with Rocket's things." Cam motions towards the door and they all happily run out to unload the car. "You two get acquainted while we get him set up."

The kids come back in each with a load - Lyra has his chew toys, Tyler's lugging a big bag of food, and Adria has the carrier that the animal shelter sent him home in.

Vala's sitting on the floor still and Rocket is in her lap. He seems content there but his curiosity and lack of attention span win, and he wriggles excitedly and runs back over to the kids. Lyra waves one of the toys around and Rocket stares at it excitedly, yapping and wagging his tail.

"Now, you can rename him if you want." Cam is talking to all of them but looking at Vala again, letting her know without having to say it that she can take the reins on this one if she wants.

Unfortunately, there are bossier voices in the house.

"Nuh uh, Daddy," Lyra says, shaking her head. "His name is Rocket, you said so, and you can't change his name once it's his name! That's silly!"

She giggles like Cam is just impossibly stupid for thinking such a thing could happen.

"I like Rocket, Dad," Tyler says. "It's like he's a space dog or something!"

Adria laughs at that, without explaining why. Cam and Vala understand, of course, but Tyler doesn't question it - he just grins like he's happy he made someone laugh.

"Vala?" Cam asks her, wanting to make sure.

Rocket has grabbed the toy from Lyra and made his way back to Vala, sitting in front of her proudly with the toy in his mouth. "I think Rocket suits him wonderfully." She reaches out and pets his thick, fluffy fur.

"We can all go back to the pet store tomorrow and get the rest of what he'll need," Cam says. "And we'll get him a tag made with his name on it."

Lyra gets up and walks over to Cam, throwing her arms around him. "Daddy, I love you so much, cause I wanted a puppy forever and ever. How did you even know?"

Cam laughs and hugs her back. "I just love you that much."

He catches Vala grinning at him. Rocket is busy chasing the ball that Tyler's rolling across the floor for him, though he doesn't really know what to do with it once he's caught it besides to run back to Vala and show off for her again.

"You kids are gonna have to help take care of Rocket too, you know that, right?" Cam explains. "In fact, he's probably hungry and thirsty now, so why don't Ty and Addie go fill up his food and water bowls for him. We can let him get a bite to eat then take him outside. He's not house trained yet, so you'll need to help us clean up after him too, until he learns to go out."

"I'll take him for walks, Daddy!" Lyra says. "I'm a good walker. I walked Roger once."

Vala seems just as baffled by Cam at that, but... well, it does seem like something Lyra would do, and Roger has proven himself as the most patient feline ever. Especially when it comes to the things that first Adria, then Tyler and Lyra, put him through.

"Speaking of Roger..." Cam peaks around the corner and sees him in his normal spot on the back of the couch. He's got his hackles up and is not quite sure what to think of the new family member. "Be careful around the cat until he gets used to the puppy kids. I bet it won't take him long."

They all take a look over at Roger and Lyra finds it funny. "Roger, don't be silly. He's just a puppy. I don't think he likes kitties for dinner."

"Roger doesn't know that, Lyra." Addy tries hard not to talk down to her sister but sometimes she can't help it and huffs afterwards. "Got the food and stuff ready, Daddy."

Vala brings rocket over to his dish and he sniffs it, licks at the water then looks back up at her. "Eat up, Rocket." He sniffs at the food again and takes a piece of kibble and lays down to eat it. Once it's gone he grabs another and repeats it all. "We better finish up our dinner before it gets too cold. Then we'll all be ready to go for a walk with the puppy."


	16. Chapter 16

The kids take turns holding the leash as they walk down the road. Cam's got an arm around his wife's waist and they walk at a slower pace behind the kids. "Not too far ahead now!" He shouts after them as they take off at a run with the puppy enthusiastically following their lead.

"'Kay, Daddy!" Lyra shouts back, never looking.

Vala cuddles closer into him and rubs her cheek on his shoulder. "You're brave."

"Chancing the wrath of an angry, sexy, pirate wife?" His lips brush her forehead. It's cold from the chilly weather and he tries to pull her in closer but it makes walking harder.

She nods, "But you knew after I looked into those soft blue eyes I'd never make you take him back." Her palm splays across his belly and sneaks under his shirt. "Pretty dirty underhanded move there."

"We've been talking about getting them a dog for a long time and now just..." Seemed like a perfect time to make everyone happier, but he doesn't say it. He doesn't have to. "I wanted to see your face light up again. Like it used to every day. I've missed it."

"It's hard-"

"Shhh, I know. Baby, I do." He stops them and watches to make sure the kids are actually paying attention to how far away they are. When he's happy with them he turns to face her. His knuckles caress her cheek and she gives a little. "He's not a bandaid for what we lost. He's a new beginning. A way to help us through it. We're still going to hurt, all of us, but then we'll be able to look down at Rocket rolling around on the floor playing with a tennis ball, or curled up sleeping next to Lyra or looking up at you with eyes that seem to know good from bad."

"You certainly picked the most adorable thing you could find." Vala leans in and lets her cool lips press against his. It's getting dark earlier and earlier and as much s she wants to stay out here forever soon dusk will turn into night and she doesn't want the kids out wandering that late. "We should head back."

"Yeah," Cam calls the kids to head home and they all come blazing back and race passed them. Rocket loping right beside them, tongue hanging out, eyes lit up like it's the best night of his life. "I'm glad you're not mad."

"You're lucky." Hands fall to his hips and she rubs her thumbs along the waist of his pants. "I'm lucky."

"No nearly as lucky as I am." To have her.

"Damn right." She kisses him again before taking his arm and heading back to the house.

xxxx

The next morning is a Saturday and they usually let the kids sleep in on Saturday but shortly after seven everyone in the house is up - especially the newest member. It takes a while for everyone to get showered, dressed, and fed - and of course, Saturday morning cartoon reign supreme but now during commercial breaks they have something even more entertaining.

"Dad can we go get him toys?" Tyler asks, frowning worriedly. "I don't want him to think he can play with my toys and get them all chewed up and dog spit on them and stuff."

"Yeah, we need to get him a crate anyway. Poor pup," Cam says, referring to the fact that he had to spend the night in the laundry room to avoid making too much of a mess. "He seems like a pretty smart guy, though. I bet it won't be too long before he gets the hang of where it's ok to go."

"We could get him diapers," Lyra suggests. "My baby doll has a diaper."

"Somehow I don't think Rocket would like that too much."

Rocket, who is currently sprawled out on the floor having puppy dreams after an energetic half hour of chasing Tyler and Lyra, makes a muffled little yapping sound. Vala says, "We can go once you've all gotten dressed."

"Can Rocket come with us?" Adria asks.

"Not this time, sweetheart. Car's not big enough for all of us and him. But you kids can take him for another walk once we get back."

"Yay!" Lyra cheers.

xxxx

They end up spending a few hours shopping for Rocket, long enough that they stop for lunch while they're out, too. Taking a family with three children anywhere ends up being more of an ordeal than Cam ever would have thought when he was single, but it's sort of fun once they resign themselves to not being on time at all.

They all want to get back and play with the puppy, though. As soon as they walk in the door it's obvious that Rocket was just as eager for his new family to come back. He greets them with excited barking, bounding toward Vala as soon as she's in the door.

Vala bends and picks him up. He's a big puppy but clearly doesn't realize it with the way he's squirming and licking her face. "Mummy missed you," Vala says, hugging him to her. He has too much energy to put up with the cuddling for long though, especially since the bags everyone carries contain more things for him.

They get his new collar and tag on, feed him a treat, and try to introduce him to the puppy pads.

"Can we go now, Dad?" Adria asks - at least the fifth time Cam's been asked in the past hour.

This time he says, "Yeah, take him for a walk, but Adria's in charge and don't leave the block."

The kids are beside themselves, laughing and giggling at each other as they get Rocket's leash back on him and head out the door.

"You wanna go with them?" Cam asks Vala, but she shakes her head.

"Let them enjoy him right now. I'll steal him back once they return," Vala says.

A finger slips into the loop of her jeans and he tugs her closer. "You realize we're alone now?" The smile on her face tells him everything he needs to know and he dips his head down and captures her lips.

Kissing has always been a good thing for them. A way to seek comfort, a way to arouse, a way to flirt or just tell them how much in love they are. But this kiss seems almost desperate. Both of them in need for a connection that's been distant since they lost so much. Her lips part and his tongue dips in - tasting her lip before retreating. Her's chases after it wanting to feel that intimate caress. Her hands rest gently on his neck, fingers rubbing lightly behind his ears as they make out in their hallway. It's obvious that the kiss isn't leading but both of them just need to feel the other right now.

Cam's hands slip around and up under her shirt, holding tight to her lower back, bringing them closer. She tips her head and the kiss deepen. They moan at the new contact and her fingernails pinch his skin in reaction to the new level of pleasure.

Three weeks isn't long enough for her. Not after what happened. Her body is still playing reset. Vala's mind still isn't in the proper place. But this kiss is the first time he's felt her passion again. They're out of breath when they part. She gravitates into his embrace and buries her face in his neck.

"That felt..." She sucks in some new oxygen and releases a shuddering breath against him. "It felt perfect."

"Like us." It's the happiest he's been for almost a month. "You feel good, baby." His hands explore her back, just soothing motions not meant to do anything except tell her how much he loves her.

Vala relaxes even more in his arms. "I actually do. For the first time in what feels like forever. I feel good."

The kids will be back any moment now but they just keep holding each other. Cam hates the idea of letting go right now. It's like every second longer he can keep this connection the more healing she can do. He knows the kids have helped a lot for her. Just seeing how lively they are, watching them play and the extra love they've been showering on her. But there are things that only he can do. The weekend they had to themselves put them on the right journey but he's got to keep on the path. He wants his wife back. No, she'll never be the same after losing that baby, but she'll be able to accept it and move past it.

They can hear the ruckus on the porch and know soon they'll be invaded again. Vala will have to go charm that new puppy off his paws and Cam will be delegated to weekend homework duty.

"I love you." He can't ever say it enough. "Always, no matter what." She grips him tighter, words have always carried meaning for her. Especially love words and real promises. He doesn't tell her enough.

She holds his head so she can kiss him once more before the chaos bleeds back into the house. She can hear the impending return to being a mother squealing in delight right outside the front door. She wants to just be a wife for a few moments longer. Her lips lightly tease over his, telling him that she loves him too, before diving back into his mouth. She's smiling as she kisses as the door opens behind them.

"That's why mommy didn't want to come!" Lyra sounds like she thinks her mother is a hopeless case. "She wanted to kiss daddy."

"Guys!" Tyler's right behind her and Rocket and Adria come bounding in last.

Addy shuts the door and lets Rocket off his leash. "I don't know." She's light and happy in her reply. "I think they're kinda cute. Like that old couple in the park."

Both Lyra and Ty have a fit of giggles because Adria called them old. Cam holds up his pointer at his oldest child, letting her know it wasn't funny, But Vala's still kissing him and he isn't going to break away to give her a proper retort.

xxxx

The kids are in bed and Cam's in the bedroom working on his constant companion, his laptop. Vala's downstairs still cleaning up after dinner and getting Rocket settled in for the night.

Only, she's gotten distracted. She's now sitting on the kitchen floor with her back against a cabinet, crying. She's not crying because she's sad - or because she's happy. She's crying because she'd just realizes, standing there, that her face had been damp. Then she'd sat and the puppy had come over to her and crawled into her lap, jumping up with his pawns on her shoulders, and licked at her cheek.

He whines, nuzzling her face, tail thumping. She wraps her arms around him and though he tenses he's patient with her. He's soft and fluffy, fur a darker gray than most Huskys but still with the lighter patches, giving him a monochrome look with only pure white around his paws and a spot on his forehead.

Once she loosens her gip on him he doesn't run away. Instead he settles into her lap, yawning widely. His tail slows it's flapping and comes to a rest.

He's asleep, or close enough to it.

She reaches down and rubs along his back in long soothing strokes. Rocket yawns a little more and wiggles his butt and settles into that position.

Upstairs, Cam starts to wonder what's taking Vala so long. He shuts his lap, done reviewing reports enough to avoid a scolding from Walter for one more day, and walks downstairs in just his shorts.

He doesn't see Vala anywhere in the living room so he keeps looking. He pushes open the kitchen door and... there she is.

"Vala?" He asks.

He looks up at him, wiping her cheeks, embarrassed to be caught like this. "I'm sorry. I was just... Rocket was..."

Cam shakes his head. not needing her to really say anything. "Looks like you were just being good to each other."

Vala smiles, grateful. "Yes. Something like that."

She holds up a hand and Cam helps her to her feet, sadly dislodging Rocket from his comfy position. "Come on, come to bed."

She nods and takes his hand. They put Rocket into his new crate and he doesn't complain much, just sprawls out and goes to sleep.

"He's agreeable enough," Cam laughs. Vala stays there, kneeling and stroking the paw that she can touch through the bars.

"I love him," she says. When she looks back up at Cam her eyes are glossy again, but not quite crying. He puts his hand on her head, caressing her hair the same way she's still touching Rocket's paw.

"He's yours," Cam says, just in case she somehow hadn't gotten that. "I mean, the kids are gonna love him I know, but he's for you."

She nods and stands up. "I don't know how you always know just what to do..."

"I don't." Cam answers honestly. "Guess I just luck up sometimes."

He puts his arm around her and she rests her head on his shoulder. "I'm tired now."

"Come on then, honey." Cam kisses her temple. "Let's go to bed."

xxxx

Sunday is a lazy day. They all curl up in front of the TV and watch Christmas specials. Vala lays along the couch, feet in Cam's lap and arm draped over the edge running her fingers though Rocket's thick coat. Lyra is curled up behind the puppy explaining to him all about Frosty the Snowman and to the dogs credit he acts quite intrigued by this man made out of snow. Adria is sharing the big arm chair with Tyler and they are offering up everything they want for christmas. Roger is braving the world too. Often found hiding on a chair tucked under the table he's now snugged in next to Addy and she's rewarding his courage by stroking his head.

"Daddy, We gonna get a tree this year?" Lyra's poking her head from where it was snuggled against Rocket. "If we don't have a tree Santa won't know where the presents go."

There hasn't been a lot of planning for Christmas. Time was flying by and he's been focusing on Vala - making her happy, getting her back to where she can function through a day without plummeting into depression - he just wants his wife back. The fact that it was a holiday was in the back of his mind but he hadn't been concentrating on how it would affect the kids. Which is something he now realizes was a mistake.

"We can go after everyone gets off school tomorrow." Vala offers. She tucks a errant curl behind Lyra's ear and smiles at her. "We can't have Santa getting confused, now can we?"

"Course not, momma." She's satisfied with the answer so she lays back down and begins whispering everything they do to a Christmas tree to Rocket.

There's a tickle on the bottom of her foot and she gives her husband a glare of warning. He does it again and she squeaks from the sensation. She kicks out at him and her noise brings the kids attention onto them. "Tickle mom time!" Cam shouts and all the kids rush her at once. Even Rocket hops up and puts his paws on the cushion by her head so he can lick at her face.

Lyra's tiny fingers are like ticklish torture on her ribs, Cam's got her feet, Addy on her belly and Tyler braves the knees. Everyone is laughing hysterically and soon Cam calls off the assault so they can all catch their breath. Addy is laying across her now with her head on her shoulder, Tyler winds up on Cam's lap and Lyra and Rocket are both giving puppy dog eyes on the side of the couch.

"When Santa hears about this he may not want to chance bringing presents in here." Vala pinches Adria's elbow.

"We won't tickle monster Santa, momma." Lyra's always finding a way out of things - just like someone else in the family. "He knows. Don't worry."

The logic of a five-year-old is often hard to argue with. "If you're sure..." Lyra gives her a gleeful nod and then tackles Rocket back to their spot. "After Frosty we can make pizza. Daddy bought stuff for us all to make our own."

The movie is almost over but they all go back to their spots. They've seen the film many times so they didn't miss anything that hadn't already seen. Vala flips sides so she's got her head on Cam's lap and his fingers automatically go to her hair. She kisses his thigh and her fingers play across the denim seam of his jeans.

He leans over and whispers at her. "You tired, baby?" She just nods against his leg. "You wanna nap while we make pizza? I can handle it. You and Rocket can get some beauty sleep." The dog is conked out on the floor having fallen asleep to Lyra's constant tales.

Her hand traces up his hip to his waist and squeezes. "I can help..."

"Nuh uh. You rest." He rubs between her back, shoulders and upper arm and she snuggles even closer to him. He sees her eyes slip shut and he tugs the afghan from the back of the couch across her body. All the kids see him motion to keep quiet and they nod.

By the time the movie's over she's fast asleep. They all sneak out and leave Rocket and Vala to their naps.

xxxx

Rocket wakes up sooner than Vala. He stands, surprised that no one else is around. In his short time with the household he's only been truly alone when he was in the laundry room while they went out to buy him things. At night he's slept in his crate, but now he's free to do what he wants.

His eyes land on Vala on the couch. He sits on the floor, contemplating. He's got a goal now; he wants by her. He hasn't actually jumped from the floor onto the couch yet, but it doesn't take him long to work up the courage to.

Vala lets out an "Oof!" and her eyes fly open at the weight of the dog on her legs. He stumbles over her legs and then flops down halfway on her. He's clearly not comfortable, at least not until Vala turns onto her side. She puts an arm around him and presses her face into his neck. He smells clean from the bath the kids had given him earlier.

They're both back asleep within a few minutes.


	17. Chapter 17

Cam sticks his head in the living room to check on Vala and sees her asleep on the couch with Rocket. He has to smile, and grabs his phone out of his pocket to take a picture. He gets a great shot but of course the clicking sound alerts Rocket to his presence. The puppy gets so excited that he actually falls off of the couch.

He yaps when he hits the ground, getting to his feet. His ears are perked up and he's trying to figure out exactly what's going on. He spots Cam and runs toward him - then past him through the open door, with puppy-like abandon.

"Food's almost ready," Cam says to Vala, who is slower to rise.

She rubs her eyes and yawns, then runs his fingers through her hair to try and tame it. "Smells delicious."

"Onion and anchovy special." Cam laughs at the look on Vala's face. "Kidding."

"Like Lyra would let you get within ten feet of her meal with anchovies..."

"And Ty would probably have the whole tin of them eaten before it made it onto the couch." They both know it's true. "Addy's setting the table, come on in when you're ready."

"Just going to the bathroom first," Vala says, standing. A couple minutes later she walks into the kitchen. Cam's just doling out the slices, while Adria fills everyone's glass with soda. She slides into her seat. "Oh, a girl could get used to this."

Cam kisses her cheek. "Well, she could, but I don't know if she should."

All the kids laugh when Vala sticks her tongue out at him.

xxxx

The tree is picked out after they look at hundreds of pines. "I didn't know there were so many damn trees out there."

"Daddy! You said a naughty word!" Lyra's always quick to point it out. "Say darn instead, then you won't get yelled at."

Cam ruffles her hair as he starts to until the tree from the roof of the SUV. "Go get the door, little one." She nods and races up the stairs. Tyler and Adria hold the base while he's got the tip. Vala's inside getting the stand ready.

It takes a bit to get everything straight but there are lots of laughs when they do.

xxxx

The puppy is pretty good around the tree. Only one night does Rocket decide to give Roger a scare and bangs into the lower branches. Ty is quick enough to grab it and save almost everything. There's only one glass ornament shattered and Cam's quick to clean it up. However, Adria gets tasked with cleaning the scratch on Rocket's nose from Rogers retaliation later that night.

"Think they'll ever get along?" Vala's never cared too much for the cat. Now it's hurt her favorite puppy, even if Rocket was the instigator, and she's upset at him.

Cam runs a finger down her neck and smiles at her obvious concern for that dog. "Honey, at least I didn't get you a mouse."

"Shut up." She's a bit pink with embarrassment over her emotions. "He's just a baby."

Cam kisses her nose. "A baby who was maliciously chasing poor, defenseless Roger."

"Defenseless?" Rocket picks then to trot over to his mom and whine at his terrible situation. "Look at my little baby's poor nose." She leans over and kisses his head and he burrows into her embrace. She made Addy clean the wound because she couldn't bear the thought of causing him pain.

When Adria brought up that she never had trouble cleaning their wounds she said that of course not kids need a little pain in their lives to appreciate the pleasures more. She'd known better then to point out all the flaws with her argument.

"He was pretty good, mom. Didn't try to bite or anything." Addy hands him a bacon shaped treat and Rocket forgives her all the pain she caused cleaning the wound. "Sorry about Roger, Rocks, but you can't keep being mean to him. He's your brother too. Brothers help each other."

Cam squeezes her shoulder and offers a smile. "That's right Rocket. Even though mom here thinks you can do no wrong. You gotta give the cat a break, buddy." He laughs when the dog seems to just turn further into Vala's embrace before Tyler catches his eye and he darts over to investigate the apple he's eating.

Vala pouts. "You two just don't understand."

"Of course not," Cam says, softening the patronizing tone with a pat to her head... that actually probably just makes it worse but she takes it in stride. She's unapologetic about her spoiling of the puppy.

"He's a very well behaved boy," Vala says, talking to Rocket in a straightforward voice. "But he's a little boy, and it can't be helped that he has a lot of energy."

"He's like me!" Tyler says. "And Lyra. Too much energy for our own good."

He's obviously parroting someone.

"Your grandma say that?" Cam guesses.

"Yup!" Lyra grins.

"Yeah, I bet. She used to say the same thing about me and your uncle. Used to say she wished for a little girl."

"Now she gots me and Addy!" Lyra says, beaming at Adria.

For a moment, just a moment, there's a pained look on Adria's face. Cam and Vala chose not to tell his parents about Adria knowing the truth. They're leaving it up to Adria as to when she wants people to know. For now, she's proving to herself that no one treats her any differently than they do her brother and sister, and once she's certain that won't change then she might face the truth.

But she's still young, just turned 13 not long ago, and Cam isn't about to push her into anything.

"That's right," he says. "And she's got the best of both worlds. Little girls to spoil, and she gets to send you home after she's filled you full of sugar cookies and icing!"

"She's making me Christmas tree cookies for my class!" Lyra, constantly in motion, gets up and runs over to Cam. She thrusts her arms up and he pulls her into his lap. "With green icing and she said I can come over after school tomorrow and help her decorate them and my class party is Friday so everyone will have a cookie with their name on it cause I brought home a list that the teacher gave us cause other wise we wouldn't know how many of stuffs to bring and so Gramma said we can do everyone a cookie and my teacher gets a BIG COOKIE, Daddy!"

She finally stops talking when she runs out of breath to speak. "That is awesome," Cam says. "Gramma's cookies are the best, aren't they?"

"Uh huh!" She nods. "Daddy, can I take Rocket to the party too? Cause I think everyone would like him lots."

"Oh, no, sweetie, I don't think so. Puppies don't go to school."

"But they can if someone brings them."

"Yeah, but what if someone in your class is allergic to dogs? Then they'd be sad because they'd feel sick."

"But Rocket wouldn't make anyone sick." Lyra pouts.

"How about we bring him with us when we pick you up?" Vala offers. "Then we can keep him outside and you can let your friends come and pet him if they want."

Cam loves the compromise, and so does Lyra - and Tyler who demands that Rocket come meet his friends too. It works out all right, since Lyra's out of school earlier than Tyler. "Addy? You want in on the Rocket love?"

Adria shrugs. "I guess."

Cam and Vala both can tell that masked beneath that blase attitude is a little bit of want. She tries so hard to be above some of the things that excite her siblings, but she's not. "Well, we'll just bring him along, anyway."

She smiles, unable to stop it.

xxxx

"Sally, this is Rocket, he's our new doggie."

Vala and Cam stand by the car as Lyra holds Rockets leash over on the grass. She's got a group of friends with her and the dog is loving the attention. He's rolled onto his back and all the kids are kneeling around him rubbing his belly. Her little voice has a ton of pride wafting through it and it makes both her parents grin.

"She's gonna be so popular." Cam nudges Vala. "I'm going to be beating the boys away."

She leans her head against his shoulder. "You've got one that you're going to be beating boys away from sooner than her..."

This surprises Cam. Yeah, Addy's 13, but... "She's got her head in so many books and activities."

"Boys do activities, you know?" She's grinning up at him. "What happens when she comes home all pink from her first kiss?" She wants to giggle as Cam's face tightens up. He's thinking about a boy touching his daughter and Vala loves how protective he is.

"I'll need you to pull out that Zat I know you have hidden..."

She swats his belly. "We won't be needing that. We've spent her whole life being openly affectionate you can't expect her to not want that too."

"I just..." He's so torn. He wants her to be so happy. But... A boy? "I want her to be safe and boys are assholes."

"You're not." She noses his neck. The look on his face is disagreeing. "You're not."

"Some days all I think about-" He looks around and makes sure no small children are in earshot. The coast is clear though, his lips draw closer to her and she visibly shivers as his breath touches her neck. It's like she already knows what he's going to say. "All I can think about is getting you naked, feeling you under me, running my hands over every inch of your body. I just want to kiss you till I can't breathe and lick you until you come."

"Cam..." It's cold outside but her skin feels like it's on fire now. She thinks about it... about them, about how long it's been.

It's not a surprise that she's red, he shouldn't have said anything. "See, an asshole."

"I-"

They're interrupted by the loud shouting voice of their youngest. "He IS the coolest dog in the world, Tommy. You don't even know"

"Good grief, where does she learn these things?" Cam doesn't wait for a reply he squeezes her fingers and jogs over to find out the issue.

She just watches as he sorts out the drama of five year olds. Even without being able to hear every word she knows that he's listening to everyone's version of events, taking it in, being a fair middle man. Everyone is smiling again and he looks over at her. Wanting her approval. She gives it, always. The crooked grin on his face brings her back to their conversation. The feelings that came to the surface while he was talking to her. Arousal, want, need... How long had it been?

"Hey, baby..." Cam's speaking and Lyra is standing in front of her with Rocket is whining for her attention. She leans down and kisses Lyra's forehead before consoling Rocket.

"Ready to go get Ty?" Vala's brushing off the fact that she was far away when they parked in front of her. Cam lets her get away with it and they get in the car. She turns her attention to her daughter right away so he doesn't have time to ask. "Now, honey, this it Ty's turn to show off Rocket. You can stand with him, but no taking over the conversation."

Lyra has a mysterious grin on her face when her mom looks back at her. "Momma..."

"Don't act innocent, little one."

She giggles. "'Kay, mommy. Promise." She pauses a beat. "But I tell the story way better."

Vala's successful holding in her laughter. She really does try not to encourage her. "Then it's best we let him practice, isn't it?"

"I 'spose..."

Lyra's spent so long showing off Rocket that they only have a few minutes to wait in front of Tyler's part of the school. Lyra runs around with Rocket, who is excited beyond belief at getting to explore a new place and mark a whole new set of trees and tires.

He's patient, too, though, and Cam's glad for that. He doesn't try to get away from Lyra though he could probably jerk his leash away from her if he tried.

Some of the other parents are there early too. Cam and Vala make small talk with them until the bell rings and there's an outpouring of children from the school doorways.

Tyler's surrounded by a group of kids, and his face lights up when he spots Cam and Vala - and Rocket. The whole group follows him eagerly and Rocket is enveloped in another mass of petting hands and giggling voices.

xxxx

Adria's got a Christmas party with her science club so they have yet another hour to kill before they can pick her up. Rocket seems in need of a break anyway, flopping onto the backseat of the SUV and falling right asleep. Lyra's eyes are starting to droop too and Vala can sense that her daughter skipped naptime - either due to their party or just out of sheer excitement.

"So, how were the cookies?" Cam asks her.

"They were yummy, Daddy. Gramma makes the best cookies." She smiles, perking back up a little. "She said she'd make more for Christmas."

"Oh, yeah, about that," Cam says. "I talked to Sam this morning when I went in, she said Cassie will be in town with her kids. Thought we'd all get together Christmas evening. Do dinner, all that."

"Yay! Aiden too?" Tyler asks. He and Aiden are getting to be closer as Aiden gets older. He falls between Tyler and Lyra in age, closer to Lyra but he looks up to Tyler and all of the adults think it's adorable how he tries to mimic him. "That's awesome. Can I get him a present?"

"I wanna get him a present, too!" Lyra says.

"We can go shopping tomorrow, get something for him and everyone else, too."

Of course, Cam and Vala will have to do their own shopping - the Santa kind, for the kids - but Cam will take a morning off of work for that. He glances over at Vala, who is sitting in the passenger seat with her head turned, looking out the window. She seems lost in thought and Cam feels a pang, hoping she's not upset over what he'd said earlier.

He really is an asshole, sometimes. He's a guy, and he likes sex, and it's been a while, and his mouth had gotten away with him. He thinks she knows he won't pressure her, but he can't be sure, and he knows that spouting off like that hadn't helped.

She catches him staring and turns to look back at him, smiling. He can read that smile, that look on her face; not quite okay but not bad either, letting him know it's all right without having to say the words. Something might be still troubling her but she'll either let him know or she'll work it out on her own.

"Time for Addy?" Tyler asks, interrupting their silence exchange.

"Yeah, buddy, should be." Cam glances at the clock.

It's a smaller group for Addy but they are just as impressed with her new family member. Rockets feeding off the group of them, a lot more serene and easy going. Less high strung excitement and more appreciation. Lyra and Ty talk to her friends too. Lyra's bubbling with stories of Rocket and Adria's just letting her tell them. She can see that her friends find her little sister adorable. It's hard to know Lyra and not be charmed by her.

"I want those things too, you know..."

She's quiet with her words and he's looking over at her. "I shouldn't have-"

"No. No, it's good." She motions to the car. "Can we... in there?"

He nods. "I wasn't-"

"Really, Cam, I need to hear that." Vala's using her nail to clean some invisible dirt from under another one, not wanting to look up at him. "It's the first time in a long time that I've even... That I've even felt like you wanted me like that."

He winces at her words. "Baby, I want you like that every day." Cam's fingers lightly touch along her bicep.

Vala shakes her head. "It's not really what I mean." She takes a deep breath and blows at her bangs. "I haven't felt much... desire since..."

If she wanted him to feel shittier, well, it was working. "Hey, sweetheart, I won't push." She nods and turns away. "It was just an example, a really bad one, how much we men think with our dicks."

The howling laughter distracts them both and they look up just in time to see rocket pulling a very tangled Tyler over. The puppy stops once the boy hits the grass, his leash yanking him down next to him as the other kids unroll him from the mess.

"Already showing off for the girls." Vala grins at him. She imagines that's how Cam started out flirting. Stupid antics that made a girls light up with laughter so he could grin his way in. Just like their almost nine year old is doing right now. It's a needed distraction. She's not sure what to do to make either of them feel better. There was nothing about what he said that she didn't like. It was only the guilt that gutted her. For all that he provides for her, for their family, all he requires is her to show him how much she loves him. It's been a long time since they've made love. A long time since he's done more than just hold her because she couldn't bear to not feel his crushing embrace or fear being lost to the darkness.

One never suspects that losing something that was barely there in the first place would be so big of a blow. It was... Still is. But today was a telling. She's coming back. The oppressive feeling of disappointment and longing lifted enough for her to tingle. For her to feel more than sadness, for her to want.

"Keep pushing." She looks over at him but not into his eyes. He lifts her chin and makes her look at him head on. To be unable to deny what she's asking of him.

It's there, the flash of something, something deep within her that hasn't been out in awhile. "Yeah?" She turns her cheek against him, kisses his palm and nods.

"Yeah."


	18. Chapter 18

The excitement grows in the house as they build toward Christmas.

Cam and Vala don't talk about sex again, but Vala refills her birth control and Cam sees that little disc of pills sitting on the counter in their bathroom, left in plain view.

He's not sure exactly what it means. He thinks that it isn't an 'if' but a 'when' now, but he still doesn't want to misstep.

It feels like it's been forever but it really hasn't been that long, and that's what he keeps reminding himself. But that night Vala curls in close to him on the couch and all he can think about is how good her hair smells and how warm her body is. He touches her in all the ways he can, is maybe more affectionate but no one really notices. The kids watch Christmas specials and celebrate school being out and write their letters to Santa.

(Lyra decides to "translate" one for Rocket, since she doesn't want him to feel left out.)

Vala goes to bed before he does, and she's fast asleep when he joins her. He lays there in bed beside her listening to her breathe and he starts to think of ways to get her alone. His mind works, starts to scheme and plan, and when he does fall asleep he has a smile on his face.

xxxx

Christmas approaches faster than any of them can hope for. Cam spends long hour at the SGC trying to cover all his bases for the time he plans on taking off, putting out fires and dealing with diplomats in town for a visit - from other planets. He and Vala don't have much time alone to talk, much less to italk/i, but he still manages to iron out some details for his surprise.

He just hopes it'll be a welcome one.

xxxx

Vala's schedule is busy, but in a different way. With the kids home from school she takes a few weeks off from the SGC. She finds being home with them a nice distraction from the things going on in her mind. They make her laugh - make her want to strangle them or scream sometimes, too, but mostly just the laughter. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed having the house full all day long.

On the afternoon of the 23rd she's sitting on the floor with Lyra, an array of wrapping tools around her. Paper in four different styles, bags with tissue paper, tape dispensers, ribbons, bows... she's developed a knack of making things look pretty that shocks no one, but she has fun doing it and Lyra has fun "helping." (She lets Lyra wrap every single one of Cameron's presents, knowing he's the only other person that would appreciate the care that went into meticulously applying fifty pieces of tape per side.)

She's surprised when the door opens and Cam walks in. She's surprised when Lyra jumps right up. "Gonna get my suitcase Daddy!" She squeals, and bounds up the stairs shouting, "."

"What's that about?" Vala asks, perplexed.

"They're going to Mom and Dad's for the night." Cam bends over and kisses the top of her head. "Merry Christmas."

She looks up at him. "Really?"

"Yeah. If you want." He adds the second part after a brief pause, studying her expression.

He sees nothing to cause him any worry. She just smiles at him and nods.

xxxx

Cam wrangles all the kids together and blows Vala a kiss on his way out. "Don't cook, I'm bringing food home with me." The door slams behind them.

She finishes up the gifts including the kids presents that she hasn't been able to do yet because they've been underfoot. It's just her even Rocket went with the kids for the night. Lyra insisted that he would be lonely with only two people to entertain him. Wendy swears she doesn't mind.

The silence threatens to swallow her so she flips on the little radio in the kitchen and puts on the tea kettle. The rumbling of the water coming to a boil and the soft tunes of holiday songs make her less on edge. She sweetens her tea and grabs her book before settling in the big arm chair to wait for Cam.

She tries to block out the thoughts. She doesn't want to analyze what's going to happen when he gets back. Thinking about it terrifies and excites her. A sip of tea and the hot liquid burns away the butterflies for a moment. If Rocket had stayed she'd have at least that distraction. He's been a godsend for that. Always able to bring her up when she's feeling low. Facing her feelings hurts.

She started the birth control again. She didn't ask what he though, just refilled her prescription after a quick consult with Carolyn and went right back to where they were. The first day she swallowed that pill again had made her cry. It's not as if she couldn't go off them again. It was easy. Just quit. But...

She wouldn't. It hurt too much. The risk of losing another... Damn, she was crying again just thinking about it. The pain was too much. She wasn't strong enough. He didn't know yet. She'd taken the easy way. Vala knows him, knew he wouldn't ask but she left the pill case out in plain sight. The first day he'd noticed he'd given her a look but she'd pretended - played like she had no idea why.

"Three is perfect." She can barely hear herself over the music wafting in quietly from the other room. She says it again and it hurts a little less. The words keep drifting past her ears as she mutters them to herself. Eventually she can hear herself believing it. The resolution in her voice. It hurts a little less everyday. She takes another sip of her tea, it's cooled considerably and she knows Cam will be walking back through that door any minute now. "Three is perfect."

That's all there is to it. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes for a minute. The tires crunching over gravel make her grin - her husband is home. Tonight is for them.

Not just to hold each other - which they certainly will - but to prove to each other that they love deeper than any wound can cut - more than any hurt can cause. She's ready again for him to show her. To love her.

She hears his foot steps right outside the door and she shivers with anticipation. She needed the push, he gave it.

Tonight was for her. For him. For them. For love.

Tonight is for lovers.

xxxx

Cam walks in the door and sees her sitting there with a book in her lap that she isn't reading and a cup of tea in her hand that she isn't drinking.

"Mom sent something for us to eat later," Cam says, holding up a casserole dish.

"Oh... that's nice of her." Vala smiles. Cam puts it down on the coffee table and then sits on the arm of the chair she's in. "The kids seemed excited to leave."

"Oh, yeah... I think Mom was even more excited to have them."

"Was it her idea?" Vala asks.

Cam reaches down and plays with her hair a little. It's something he never tires of doing. "Didn't say that."

"Whose was it then?" Vala asks.

"Mine." Cam leans over and kisses the top of her head. "But Mom thought it was a great idea."

Vala doesn't say anything. It's not that she doesn't agree... but the nerves are still swimming in her stomach.

"I've got a present for you to open early, if you want it." He doesn't wait for her to respond. Under the tree is a box wrapped in shiny paper that Vala hadn't even noticed, though it's obviously not one she'd wrapped herself. "Here you go."

He sits on the arm of the chair again watching as she yanks the ribbon and then tears open the paper. Inside the box is a variety of bath products; oils and bubble bath and body wash and chalky little balls and a set of her favorite shampoo and conditioner.

Vala smiles and reaches for his hand. "This is lovely."

"Thought you might want that now so you could enjoy some of this free time," Cam says. "Go take a bath. Relax. Light some candles, take your book... I'll warm up your tea."

"Leave the tea," Vala says, looking up at him. "But come sit with me."

He hears the waver in her voice, and nods. "Okay."

xxxx

She sits in the dimmed bathroom, warm bubbly water enveloping her body. It feels like silk and smells like citrus and she can't help but let some of the tension seep away from her.

"I wanted to talk," she says, looking over at Cam.

He sits on the closed toilet lid, watching her. He loves the way she piles her hair on top of her head when she bathes, and some curls always escape. They cling damply to the back of her back.

The fact that she wants to talk doesn't shock him. It isn't exactly an uplifting thing to hear though. He thinks he knows what it's about but there's just enough room for doubt to make his stomach hurt. "Yeah?"

"I think... I don't want to try again." Vala breathes out once she's said the words. "I don't want any more children."

"Oh." Cam again isn't surprised - but he still gives it a second to sink in. "Okay. That's... that's fine with me, honey. Three is perfect."

It almost makes her smile, how he says the same thing she'd been using as a mantra. Still, she has to ask, "You're not upset?"

"No, of course not." Cam moves closer to her and sits on the edge of the tub. "I've got you. I've got them. That's all I need."

It's not the most comfortable place to perch but he wants to be closer to her. He lets his fingertips trail through the warm water and bubbles, and then swipes the bubbles across her nose.

She smiles, unable to help it. She blows at her nose and the bubbles go sailing through the air, landing back onto the water. She leans back again, now properly able to enjoy the bath.

"Tell you what, you finish in here, I'm gonna go straighten up and then we can talk some more."

"Talk?" She tilts her head up at him. She can tell by that look in his eye that he'd like more than talk, but he's still giving her an out. "We'll see. If you get to do any talking."

He grins. "Yes, ma'am."

xxxx

There is a plate of food in his hands, steaming, when she walks down to the living room. He wasn't in their bedroom so she put on her robe and meandered downstairs.

"Thought we should eat first." The plate is set on the table next to his chair. He holds out his hand and she takes it so he can tug her into his lap.

The wine makes her smile and she takes a sip out of one of the glasses. "I only see one plate here..."

"I'm going to feed you." He lifts a forkful of casserole to her lips and she happily takes it. He takes a bit for himself and she snuggles closer than he knew was possible in a this chair. "It's good."

"Mmm, yes." The next time he goes to get himself food she steals the fork. "I want to play too." She pouts so prettily that he relinquishes it.

She drops the fork back down and her fingers trace his jaw, thumb brushing a crumb from his lip, while he chews. Her lips kiss his cheek and she wiggles against him. Her robe gapes open from the movement which catches his eye.

Pale skin, red with heat from her bath, framed by the pink terry cloth. It's too cold for the silk and the little bits of material look like they are tickling at the curve of her breast. Cam cups her face and kisses her. The tips of his fingers brush the damp pieces of hair on her neck as he holds her. He tastes cheese and wine and his tongue sweeps across her mouth. She opens for him and both of them moan. He caresses her jaw with his thumb, skin soft and freshly washed, the smell of the bath scent is heady and the citrus smell might be branded on him with this moment. Ever time she uses it now he can see himself getting hard. Her thigh moves across his lap and his cock, already interested, twitches against his leg.

Lips part and they just look at each other. His fingers are rubbing gently along her neck and she's got a soft smile full of anticipation and desire. Cam plays with the skin on her neck and his hand drops slowly. All the peach fuzz is like silk to him. He's not sure how she's so impossibly soft all the time, but he can't get enough of touching her.

She sighs and closes her eyes, letting the feeling of his fingers take her to a place where she hasn't been in awhile. She wants to be stroked and caressed, kissed and loved. The desire seems to be filtering back in. He's nursing it for her as he slips downward. His hand moves under her robe and cups her partial exposed breast. Thumbing her nipple, lightly squeezing, tickling around the edges and making her want more.

"How are you so soft?" He's fascinated. "Everywhere. Is there a woman secret that all men are left in the dark about?"

She just grins bigger and chuckles. She's relaxed and feeling good from the bit of wine and lingering effects of the bath. "Dunno... To drive men crazy, I'm sure."

"You still hungry?" Cam's voice is smokey and low. He's hard and the chair is getting uncomfortable. "We can talk somewhere more comfortable."

"Hungry, yes... For you." She nips at his jaw, grabs the hand from her breast and tugs him after her. "Lets go to bed?"

He's behind her, the robe slipping from one shoulder, watching her lead him to bed. He wants to much to make everything better for her. To make her feel good, perfect, to reassure her that three is the perfect number. "I want to watch you come."

She's not expecting him to say anything at all, let alone that. his voice is doing things to her body, waking up parts of that she thought would never come back. She can only whimper in response. A rush of moisture floods between her legs. She stops and turns, he bumps into her but his hands go to her waist and hold tight, thumbs pressing into her hips.

"I..." She's breathy and almost nervous. "I want you to." She's being crushed against the wall, lips covering hers. One hand is buried in her hair - holding her mouth to his - the other is cupping her thigh - pulling her center close to him as he rocks his erection into her. Oh that pressure... God, it's been missing for so long. She wants him, his lips, his tongue, his fingers, his cock... everything.

He can tell she's nervous and he is strangely touched by it. He knows the kiss helps but he still speaks afterward, softly, breath brushing against her skin.

"It's just us," Cam murmurs. "It's just sex. We've been down this road a few times, baby."

"I know." She grasps at his shoulders, just shy of clinging. "I want you."

He runs his fingers down her body, over her then up to her face, brushing her cheek with the backs of his fingers. "Get into bed, okay?"

"Cameron, I want-" She thinks he means he doesn't want sex now and she knows she really wants it because of how that disappoints her.

"We will, we are," Cam says, quick to reassure her. "But first, just get in bed. I'll come join you in just a minute."

He kisses her again to reassure her. She sits on the edge of the bed and watches him walk away, not sure if she should follow him. After a moment she does what he'd asked and gets into bed.

She's under the covers when he walks back in. He puts his music player onto a speaker port and soft jazz fills the room. It's Vala's favorite kind of earth music. She's told him before that it reminds her of where she grew up, the musical instruments they had there.

Cam dims the lights and walks over to her, stripping down naked before he gets under the covers with her. He reaches over and pushes her hair back from her face and then leans in to kiss her - soft and sweet, not lacking in passion but not forcing it, either.

It feels... good. More natural than the seduction scene from earlier, more comfortable. She'd been turned on but somehow still unsettled; this, though, this is warm and safe and stripped of any pretense.

"This okay?" Cam asks, murmuring as he presses kisses to her shoulder. She nods, hands feeling the smooth warm skin of his back, the muscle and sinew and jut of his shoulder blades against her palms as he moves over her, covering her thighs with one of his own. She reaches down and grasps his cock in her hand. He's only half hard now but she likes to feel it grow in her grasp and he doesn't disappoint her. It excites her to do that, to feel that.

"I love you," she says, circling the tip with her thumb just to drive him wild.

"You better," he says, playfully nipping at her collarbone. The tiny hint of pain makes her shiver. "What do you want?"

"Just this." She squeezes his cock. "Just you."

"You got it," he says, like it's nothing, like he's placing at order at a fast food place, and it makes Vala laugh how easy this is after how long she's been worrying. He moves over her and guides himself in - she's wet, from earlier still and from now, her body having already gotten the message that it's allowed to enjoy this. There's a fullness when he's sliding in that catches her off guard though she's felt it a hundred times and she clenches in a way that makes him groan though she's done it a hundred times.

He puts his elbows against the pillow on either side of her head and holds himself above her, starting to move slowly until she releases the breath she's holding. "Good?"

She lifts her head to angle her mouth over his, stifling the flow of words that she doesn't think are really necessary right now.

Lips and tongues speak loudly as they kiss. His body moves steadily over hers. The jazz music throbs in the background as they make love encouraging a slow sensual rhythm. Cam's lips travel down her jaw to her ear. Her mouth is pressed close to his ear and the sound of her panting, little grunts as he bottoms out, and tiny whimpers of pleasure. Cam nibbles at her lobe and she arches against him.

Her knees grip and shimmy further up, sweat starting to slick her thighs as she works her body tight against him. She missed this, this closeness, this feeling. Not just the pleasure - of course that's wonderful - but the love that he's showing her. Inside and out. His mouth is doing wicked things to her earlobe and she cries out as he grazes the sensitive skin with his teeth. Her fingers dig into his shoulders in reaction to the feeling.

It's nice, the slow, the long, deep strokes but Vala needs more now. Her hands float along his sides and she palms his ass, encouraging more movement. Cam licks his way down her neck and starts to speed up. His arms move down and slip under her back to grasp her shoulders and really pull her down as he pumps.

She's hugging him closer with her arms, leaning up into every stroke. She feels good. Really, really good for the first time since she can remember. It's as if nothing is wrong and everything is only them and how they feel and how they make the other person feel.

She's fluttering around his cock and he starts to really hit harder at the end of each thrust. When she chokes out his name after the first time he knows that will get her there. Teeth nibble at her neck - she's holding him so close it's the only place he can reach - her nipple scrape against his chest hair and every pass makes her clench him tighter.

"You need..." The grip around his cock tightens and he can't finish.

Vala mumbles against his shoulder. "Just this..." He plunges in faster and she gasps. She's battling to hold off. She doesn't want to come, not yet, she just wants to feel this - them - everywhere. He's so deep, so filling, stretching her body to perfection.

It feels like they've just started but he can tell it's been a while because of how ready she is, and by how much he can feel his body exerting. His limbs are shaky, and he wants to let go but she's holding back and he doesn't know why.

But he doesn't want to ask so he just strains against the urge and enjoys the delicious ache until it gets to be too much.

"Vala," he says, clenching his eyes shut because even looking at her is too much. "I can't-"

She gasps when she realizes how far gone he is and she loves it. She nods and brushes her lips over his earlobe. "Yes... go on..."

"Shit," he exclaims, but it's too late, his body has made the decision for him and he comes in hot pulses inside of her.

Vala turns her head to the side, lets him kiss her throat while she just focuses all of her attention on how he feels. To know that it's not dangerous, that it's not going to impregnate her, is a relief. She knows she's made the right decision for her, and that means that it's right for the both of them.

Cam finishes coming and slumps down against her, not putting all of his weight on her but allowing his arms to relax a little. She pets her fingers through his hair and murmurs to him. "So good, Cameron, you feel so good..."

He's softening inside of her and she hasn't come but she doesn't care. He will, of course, because he has some overly chivalrous notion that she has to come every time they have sex, and she's not complaining because, well, orgasms are nice, but she honestly doesn't mind if sometimes it's just about giving him pleasure. She's tried to tell him but she's resigned to the fact that he views his character as a man on the line if they have sex and she doesn't come, and she'll allow him that. He allows her so much; it's really the least she can do. Plus, she gets orgasms.

He kisses her neck, tasting the tang of sweat. "I love you," he says, catching his breath. His face is red and his eyes are so blue and she kisses his mouth and moves her leg over his so he can't get away from her. "Baby-"

"I'm not in any hurry," she says, quick to settle him. "I just want to lay like this."

He frowns. "But you didn't..."

"No, but I will," she says, snuggling into him with arms wrapped tight. "Just stay like this for a minute."

He gives her that look that he gets sometimes and she's pretty sure she could ask him for anything right now and he'd do it for her. She loves that about him.

They lie still for a few minutes, he's content nuzzling at her neck and kissing her softly. Soon her arms loosen and she lets her hands trail down his biceps - giving permission to roll off, if he wants. To her surprise he lingers a little longer and her stomach flips with emotion from him needing this closeness too.

When he pulls out it makes her tingle and moan as he moves to the right. He stays close and his right hand never leaves her form. It's touching her belly, rubbing circles, slowly moving outward and up. He lifts her left breast and leans across to take her nippling into his mouth. It's harder before his lips touch it but when he starts suckling she's murmuring his name against his shoulder. He knows that she's still turned on, only the moments of quite between them has calmed her arousal. Cam wants to play, to build her back up before he gets her off.

He swaps to the other nipple, letting his tongue lap at her skin as he moves. She tastes like the sea, fresh and salty with a slight hint of citrus. Her hand squeezes his ear as he sucks the second pebbled bud into his mouth. Her back arches as he increases the pressure and she's moaning. There's a pop as he pulls his mouth off her and she tries to follow him. He kisses downwards. Paying special attention to her sides and under her belly button. Worshiping the place where she carried three of his babies. Her palm is rubbing his shoulder and bicep oh so lightly and he turns to look at her to see tears in her eyes.

"Oh, baby." He moves back up and gathers her close, hugging her tight. He didn't mean to upset her. "Don't cry, honey."

"You're too sweet..." Vala hugs him back. "Don't stop though..." She's aroused, so very turned on. Despite the overwhelming rush of feelings that just made her weepy. She wants him to finish her. He's still holding her, snuggled on their sides, her leg drapes across his thigh and she arches into him, making sure he understands that she needs him.

He's not sure what to do. Cam wants to make her come. Wants to watch her face as she finds that ultimate bliss. Perhaps he should just stay eye level. His reverence of her body is too much for her right now. He lets his hand move down her back, caresses her ass and then slides over her thigh. He takes that same path up and down, soothing and plying her passion at the same time.

"That feel good?" She whimpers against his neck and her tight, desperate hold on him loosens. He lets her go, laying her on her back again. His hand is still just caressing lightly, touching slowly, gentle pressure, and his eyes are never leaving hers. When he hits a good spot and her eyelids shut he makes sure to touch it again. Her little gasps and moans and whimpers make him more confident that it's working for her again. It's the only answer he needs.

Vala's feeling calmer, much better after the slight panic that his attention to her stomach brought on. His touch feels amazing and her body is climbing back up, back to the place he left her in when he came inside her. She spreads her legs wanting his touch on her cunt. She wants his fingers to drag through her pussy and play in their combined juices. It's good that he can read her hints, the subtle and not so much, she's rewarded with his hand cupping her sex. She arches up against him, pressing her clit into the heel of his hand.

She's so wet, so ready and he's being a tease still. Fingers tracing around her lips, pulling her moisture around. A brief caress of her clit only leaves her wanting more. "Cameron..." She whines his name and smiles when he shivers next to her in reaction to the way she says it.

There's so much slickness between her thighs that he can't tell if he's feeling his come or her wetness. She's really getting back into it and he's feeling better about himself because of it. He enters her with his middle finger and there is so much heat inside her. She's griping and clenching at him and he's instantly happy he's basically ignored her clit. She's a rocket ready to launch and right now he wants to play. He drags his finger across the top wall of her sheath and she shudders when he rubs her g-spot. Cam takes his time and moves back and forth over it. Drawing it out, playing inside her and mixing their essences together. He knows this won't be enough to get her there, but it's plenty to make her wild with wanting to.

His mouth is watering, wanting to eat her alive, suck the climax out of her, but he doesn't want to leave her face either. The way her eyes are rolling into the back of her head when he does it just right. The safety she's getting when she meets his eyes, when she can find the strength to open them, is too important. He adds a second finger and it's so tight inside her. He doesn't know how he can fit in her when she's like this. Her muscles are greedy and wanting and he starts to thrust into her with more force and speed.

"Wanna..." She can barely breathe. Her body feels tight and, oh God, she wants it. Wants to get off. Needs it. "Please..."

As if he could deny her anything, ever, let alone right now. He lets his thumb slide into place, over her clit and just presses down. It swells under his touch and she bucks up against his hand. Her hand balls up the sheets into a fist while the other arm tightens behind him squeezing him, encouraging. The first light circle over her clitoris tells her it's going to be good. The second one sends her into a plane of existence she hasn't known in too long. She's floating and his fingers just keep shifting and thrusting and touching and moving and she's going so high that she's sure if she doesn't come soon she'll die.

"Baby, why aren't you letting go?" Cam's never seen her this turned on, this tight and needy, but not allowing herself the end. "I want you to come. I want to watch your face."

His lips brush her ear, they are so warm and tender, she's on overload. He whispers to her, asking her to let go, for him, so he can see her. When he tells her that he loves her it set her off. Her body tightens everywhere and pleasure shoots through her. Holy fuck... She's coming hard and fast and he's just riding her though it. Hands, mouth, lips, tongue, all of them aiding the sensations that seem to be never ending.

Her face is gorgeous when she lets herself find the ending. He keeps talking her through, telling her his feelings, letting her know she's always safe to let go. He'll always reassure her, he's not sure he's understanding how hard it was for her, but he's glad that he was able to help her through it. She gets him through everything and just being able to pay her back, especially in orgasms, is a gift. He sticks with her until she's done fluttering around his fingers and then he pulls his fingers out of her sheath. Cam lingers around her sex, playing with her folds, reveling in the amount of slickness. She's so damn hot. Every time he sees how amazing she is he wonder how he got so lucky.

"Love you." He kisses her lips and she's kissing back, but lethargically and sloppy.

Vala grins big and grips his neck to holds his mouth against hers when he tries to leave. "Love." It's all she can get out before she can't fight the need to kiss him again.

He kisses her for as long as she wants, until she's the one that pulls back and sighs, eyes shut. "Thank you."

"No need to thank me..." Cam taps still sticky fingers against her hip. "You're beautiful."

She gives him a smile, tears welling in her eyes again. She can't believe her capacity to cry lately. She blinks them away, not wanting sadness to invade this moment, or even the pretense of it.

"Love you," she says, and rolls away from him. She's tangled in the sheets and just kicks them off all together when her limbs won't cooperate.

He grabs her with an arm around her waist, another obstacle. "Where you going?"

"Clean up," she says. "Someone made a mess."

He grins, not the least bit ashamed. "Guess I need to do that, too."


	19. Chapter 19

Five minutes later the sheets are new, their bodies are wiped clean, and and the lights are dimmed. It's not quite dark outside yet but Vala feels like she could nap, so she does, curled up in Cam's arms.

He doesn't sleep, just watches her and lets his mind wander - work, the kids, school, Addy... Vala. He spends most of his time thinking about Vala. The idea of giving gifts to the kids has always thrilled her, in the beginning he thinks because it meant shopping and she loves to shop, but once she saw the sheer joy on the face of a kid who thinks that there's still magic in the world she latched onto it. The religious sentiment behind it leaves her sour because she doesn't really have the best attitude toward blind faith in a high power, but a fat man that likes cookies and leaves presence - even she's hard pressed to find fault with that.

When she wakes up, they'll eat - actually eat, unlike before when they'd let the plate sitting to cool after only a couple of minutes - and maybe she'll heat up some cider while he lights the fireplace and they'll sit in front of it with the tree lit up...

He grins, realizing it's a good thing that the kids took Rocket with them, or there's no way Cam would get so much one on one time with Vala. It'd be the dog she'd cuddle with in front of the fireplace. Cam can't mind too much though - that's why he got her the dog.

She turns and breathes in deeply and he realizes that she's done with her nap. He kisses her forehead and holds her a little closer until her eyes open up. She turns her face toward his and they kiss again, soft and slow while she wakes up.

"Hungry?"

She kisses him once more before nodding. "Have to get dressed?"

"Well, no. But you might get cold." Her hand slides down his back and pinches his ass. Cam lets out a very unmanly squeak. "How about both of us in flannel pants and robes?"

"Or..." She bites at his chin. "We could just stay here for the rest of our time." Her stomach chooses that moment to make itself known - rumbling with protest to that plan.

"I better feed you, sweetheart. I'm going to put on some pants, but I won't protest if you don't follow my lead." He kisses her before getting out of bed, putting on a pair of pajama pants and heading down stairs.

xxxx

The fire is crackling already by the time they finish re-heating their dinner. They pile one plate with food and Cam tosses all the extra blankets and pillows onto the floor close to the fire. He carries out the wine and two glasses and she follows him with dinner.

Vala didn't go with nudity, she's in flannel pants and a tank top. Cam tugs a blanket around her shoulders and they sit facing each other, each of them munching on the casserole. They don't need words, they just exchange glances and smiles. She's got her knees pulled up to her chest.

A piece of her hair falls into her eye and Cam reaches over to tuck it behind her ear before she can. He just wants to touch her and knows that she doesn't fault him for it. She grabs his hand on retreat, flattens it against her cheek and snuggles into it. He lets her keep his hand as long as she needs. Before she releases him she kisses his wrist.

For the first time since they lost the baby everything feels like it will be alright.

xxxx

The fire flickers in front of them, it's late, they've been lingering in front of the flames. Snuggled together after they finished dinner, curled amongst the pillows and blankets. He's got a hand on her belly under her tank top and she's on her back looking up at him. They kiss, lips bruised and swollen from a night of marathon kissing, and touch and just have fun being together. They talk about the kids and the dog and work and Frank and Wendy. Irreverent and important things, funny to serious. It doesn't matter. It's them, being together and it's glorious.

"When's the last time we've had something like this?" Vala plays with his fingers that are resting on her belly.

"Awhile." Cam flips his hand over so she can run her fingers over the lines on his palm. It feels good, just being next to her is good. Not having to worry about the kids or the dog. Just them.

Vala tries to hide her yawn. She's feeling loved and warm, sated and needed. Everything is making it perfect for her to fall into a nice, long dreamless sleep. "I'm sleepy."

She nuzzles her nose into his chest, rolling towards him so their on their sides facing each other. "Too sleepy for another present?" Cam's pulling an envelope from under the couch. Her eyes light up but she rolls over and pulls a box from under the tree to hand to him too.

She runs her fingers over the edge of the envelope. "What is it?" He rolls his eyes and she grins.

"Open it." He holds his box while he waits for her to tear open the edge. Her eyes grow big as she reads what's in it.

There are a few things in the plain envelope. The first is a day at the spa in town. Massage, mud treatment, sauna, manicure, pedicure and more. Then there is a second one right behind it.

"I thought that you could bring Adria with you. If you wanted." Cam's rubbing his thumb on her hip and grinning. "Or you can just go twice."

"Mother daughter bonding over indulgences sounds like perfection." She flips through to the next and it's a weekend stay at the big hotel downtown. "Looks like I'll be bringing her for a night away too..."

Her wicked grin lets him know she's joking. "I was thinking that we could use that one together... But if you'd rather take Adria..."

"Oh, well, I guess you'll do, then..." She teases but then leans over and kisses him. "Thank you. This is lovely. I'm afraid you've only got one from me..."

He looks down at the box in his hand. "Why don't I wait to open it until the kids are here, then?"

Vala does feel genuinely guilty. Her heart hadn't been at all into shopping this year. She has no big surprises planned. The kids have toys, things they'd asked for and things that she thinks they'll like, but they're easy. She wishes she had something for Cameron now besides the ones from the children, picked out by them - a wallet from Adria, a model plane from Tyler for them to put together, a book about dinosaurs from Lyra that Vala has no doubt will join her own collection shortly after she "gives" it to Cam. Her own gift toward him, picked out with thought but not the level of sentiment Cam clearly devoted to her gifts, is a small one-cup coffee machine for his office.

"What is it?" Cam says, seeing the shift in her expression. "The present thing? Trust me, honey, you did not have to get me a damn thing. I think you've given me enough."

She rolls her eyes. "That's so... cheesy."

She puckers her face up when she says it, and it makes Cam laugh. "Well, maybe I'm a cheesy kinda guy, sometimes."

"We had three children, I didn't give them to you. Don't make me out to be that selfless."

"Fine, three times over I benefitted from your ability to give birth." Cam rewords it. "Better?"

"Yes, I suppose," she says, settling back in against him after she sets the envelope aside. "I'll get something special for you and surprise you with it when we take that night away together."

He grins. "See, that's what I'm talking about. You know what I like."

"Oh, yes, I do," she smirks, and kisses his mouth. "As long as you're not tired of it yet, that I can provide."

"Tired of it? Never," he swears. "God, baby, you just look..."

"If you say perfect, I'll hit you," she warns.

"Amazing. Perfect to me."

"Well, you're biased, because you like to put your penis in me." She says it in a 'know it all' voice, reminiscent of Lyra when she learned what the word penis meant and went around all day shouting it at Tyler.

That was a very trying day, Vala making every effort not to laugh and encourage her, and mostly failing.

"Last time I checked you enjoyed when I did that..." Cam tweaks her nose and she gets a bit pink thinking of it. "I'm glad she got over that pretty fast." He knows exactly what she was imitating and while Vala found it cute as well as annoying Cam just wanted his littlest daughter to stop shouting the word penis from the top of her lungs.

"My vagina does enjoy a good penis from time to time." The word 'vagina' wasn't as big of a hit with Lyra she liked it for a few minutes but the fact that it made Tyler so uncomfortable that made her carry on so long.

Cam pushes her onto her back and presses his weight against her, onto the floor. "I hope 'a good penis' only means mine..." She's got a wide smile that says she knows exactly what she said and how he'd feel about it.

"Well..." She nips at his chin. "My main man, Teal'c, might get a bit jealous if he wasn't included..."

He can't help but laugh at the old joke as well as grabbing a small pillow and bringing it around to whack her with. "Next time you're horny you'll have to give him a call instead."

"Or both of you..." Vala winks and he laughs loudly before covering her mouth with his.

He loves her. Loves her so much that he trusts her implicitly and the fact that they can joke about this makes him so incredibly happy. Their tongues play just as much as their words before the kiss. It's hot and fun and Cam's licking at her lips as he pulls back. "Bed time?"

The fire has dimmed and he doesn't want to put anymore wood on it. She's flushed with exhaustion and he wants her to get a good nights sleep without having to worry about the kids or the dog.

"Mmmm." She pulls him back for another kiss first. "Yeah, lets sleep."

He rises and helps her up as well. He thinks briefly about putting their floor accommodations away but decides to leave it for the morning. "In the morning maybe we could try that whole penis in you thing?"

"Or we could try that whole your tongue in me thing." He swats her butt and she takes off up the stairs.

Her clothes are off by the time he gets up there and he strips off his pants before crawling in and pulling her back into his body. "I can't keep my hands off you." Ever since they've been alone, except during her bath time, he's been touching her or her him.

"'S okay. I like it." She curls up against his chest and he strokes her back. All she has are happy thoughts as she drifts off to sleep.

xxxx

He wakes up first to check in on work things and then gets started making breakfast - cinnamon rolls and hot coffee. She's still fast asleep by the time he sticks his head in the bedroom door just past nine. "Chow time!"

Vala grumbles but once she's up, she can smell food and that lures her downstairs. She's just wearing her tank top and panties, enjoying the benefit of Cam having already bumped up the heat to make the house toasty warm.

They eat cinnamon rolls with their fingers, on the same pile of pillows and blankets from the night before. He sits with his back against the sofa, sitting up, and she's tucked between his legs, back to his chest, with the plate on her lap. It leads to sticky kisses and stickier touches until Cam grabs her fingers and sucks the icing off of each digit. Vala's breath grows shallow while his tongue bathes the pad of her finger until every bit of the sugary icing is gone.

He can see her squirming and then switches to the other hand, giving it the same treatment. She reaches back and curls fingers damp from his own mouth against the back of his neck and whines impatiently.

"All better," he announces, guiding her hand away from his mouth and letting it go. Vala isn't about to let him get that far, though. She grabs his hand this time and guides it where she wants it - down, down, to cup her through her panties. It catches him off guard "Oh... damn. You liked that, huh?"

She smirks. "Or maybe I just had nice dreams."

"Of Teal'c?" He guesses.

Vala laughs. "No, sorry, Muscles didn't have a starring role last night. Now, I had this dream last week-"

Cam slides his hand into her panties to shut her up. It works and she gasps, hips jerking forward. He laughs and kisses the curve of her neck while his fingers play, sliding through folds of skin and coaxing out the wetness. She sinks back against him and enjoys the slow, thorough exploration of her body he's giving. She looks down and the sight of it is just as erotic; nothing on display, just Cam's hand disappearing into her panties, the outline of his fingers stretching the underwear. She whimpers when he makes a direct swipe over her clit and her stomach tenses, then relaxes as she forces a breath out. "Feels good..." She murmurs. "More."

"No," he says, biting her on the shoulder lightly. "I don't wanna."

Oh. That works, too. She also gets a thrill out of him being pushy once in a while. "Mm... well... all right, then."

He hasn't even put a finger inside her yet. She endures the teasing for another few minutes and then she's impatient again. She squirms and tries to close her legs, wanting to turn around and face him. He isn't about to let her though; he pulls his hand out of her panties and grabs her legs, keeping them spread open, laughing as it turns into a sort of wrestling match. "Nuh uh," he says, pinning her back against him with her thighs parted. She can feel him hard against her back and it's so hot. She whines a little.

"Just wanna touch you." His hands rub down her thighs back to her sex. "Let me?"

His finger traces her slit oh so lightly over her panties and she bucks up into his hand. It's torture, but incredible, all at once. She wants him too. "But-"

"Please, baby?" He finally feels her relax against him again. Playing against the edge of her panty before slipping underneath again. She's so slick and he lightly draws along her labia, tracing and playing in her wetness. "You're so hot, Vala. Damn." She cries out when he brushes her clit. Her legs try to close in response so he bring his knees up and out further, keeping her spread wide for him to play with.

His cock feels everything as well, her back is pressing against it and he wants to be inside her, but not yet. Not until he makes her come this way. This isn't just for her, he loves getting her off.

"Cameron..." Her voice is all breath and she reaches to cover the hand that's just resting on her thigh. Her flips it over and they grip hands, linking their fingers and squeezing as he starts to circle her clit. He gives her rhythm. A nice slow, easy tempo. Her hips start to rock, urging him to give her more. His fingers slip around her cunt and make her want so much more. He's going so slow and she's trying to encourage him to plunge a finger inside her.

He knows what she wants but he wants to play with that little button of pleasure. She's so hard and smooth and he rubs up and down and then around. It throbs under his touch and he kisses her neck, licking at the sweat that's gathering at the base. His finger is covered in her juices he can feel the slick moisture all the way to his knuckle.

The feeling was building fast for her, her body was gripping and clenching - wishing he would fill her. But his finger just kept playing with her clit. Nothing else, just touching and teasing. He'd set up a rhythm and let her settle into it, bring her so close to the edge and then change. It was frustrating and wonderful and god, so good. His palm pressed to hers against her thigh seems to make everything more intimate, she's clasping him and squeezing in time with his finger. She can feel his cock throb against her and she doesn't know how he's able to stand the pressure.

"Do you want to come?"

He's whispering in her ear and it makes her shiver and jerk and her body begs him for permission. "Please."

"Ask me." Cam bites her earlobe before trailing his lips down to her shoulder.

"Let me come..." She moans as he presses on the base of her clit and drags the pressure slowly to the end. "Please..." She doesn't care that she's begging, she needs to get there.

She's trying to get there herself with her limited range of motion, not moving enough for him to chastise her for but shifting her hips in little increments until he gives in and circles it hard and fast. It's a total overload of sensation for Vala and the orgasm hits so sharply that it almost hurts, and goes on and on, his fingers coaxing every last spasm out of her.

She's not even really done yet when he nudges her forward. "Hands and knees," he says, yanking her panties down. He leaves them there twisted above her knees and she sinks forward, forearms flat on the blanket but knees keeping her ass elevated. Cam shoves his own pajama pants off completely and knees above her. He takes a moment to admire the sight of her on display for him, cunt swollen and glistening and just begging for him to sink right in, before he gives her exactly what she needs.

She starts to come again immediately, too much time passing for it to count as the first but her body is screaming with pleasure still. She wails out her pleasure in a loud voice, knowing that there's no one to hear. His name flies out of her mouth and she's begging and praising him at the same time. He thrusts in hard and fast, hands on her hips to hold her in place since the blankets threaten to move with the motion. She pushes back on him just as enthusiastically.

The room is filled with the slick wet sounds of sex; if the night before had been love making, this is passion. Raw, pure, base-instinct sex. He's breathing hard looking down at the sight of his cock disappearing into her body, at how it shines with the wetness from her every time he pulls back out. He teases her a little, grabs his dick and just rubs it against her, up and down over her cunt lips, and then sinks back in and starts that steady pounding again. His balls slap against her ass until he's right on the edge and then they tighten, drawn in close.

She's lost track of how many times, probably only two or three but it just feels like steady waves wracking her body. Her fingers grasp and claw at the blankets and she can feel herself dripping down her thighs. Her forehead touches the ground and she looks and she sees it, them, sex, his cock in her, and whines with the onslaught of another hard wracking spasm. She reaches down between her her body and the ground, splays her fingers across where they're joined and feels him. "Yes!" She moans, and something about it just pushes Cam over. He slams into her and her hand stays like that, fingers just barely brushing his balls, as he empties himself into her.

There's a moment where neither of them can do anything but gasp. They need oxygen and Cam can feel her shaking under him, he's trembling from the force of his release. He doesn't want to be free of her body yet. He's still hard and she's incredibly tight around him. He feels locked inside, she doesn't want to give him up and his dick doesn't want to be released yet. He pulls a little back and she squeaks beneath him.

"That feel good?" He does it again. God, it's almost too much. His cock is too sensitive. He's just come and it feels like he's just as hard as he was five minutes before.

Her vagina is clenching so hard around him. Every time he moves the flared head of his dick pulls right across her g-spot. How is he still hard? He came hard inside her. "It's... It's a lot." A lot of something. It might be pain, but it's sending extreme sensations throughout her body. "Do it again." He pulls back a bit and she calls his name. Fuck, she's about to come again, just a few more strokes. He seems to know that it's right, that he should do it. The next one makes her legs part further, it's straining her hips but she does care, it brings him in deeper and he gives another shallow stroke. Vala's feeling everything that's him and nothing else. The blood rushes through her ears and there's just a loud echo of her arousal. He plunges a bit harder and she feels something that's never happened before. She's coming again and it's wet and dripping and she's so high on pleasure. Everything is slicked up and she can feel the excess flood of juices flowing around him, bathing his cock and balls and both of their thighs in her essence.

"Shit, Vala..." He looks down. She just ejaculated on him. "You just..." His cock jerks inside at the realization that he made her come that hard. It's close to a second orgasm for him but he's dry from his first one.

She turns red, over the pink that's already covering her body from the exercise. "It was..." She looks between them again and moans at the site. There's liquid evidence covering them both. It's a bit embarrassing for her and she buries her face in the pillow.

"So hot, baby, so hot." He can finally pull free of her and rush of fluids come out with him. His come mixed with hers. He grabs the smallest blanket on the pile and catches the majority of it. "We've just made a massive mess."

Vala just grins up at him and sighs as she falls over. "Don't care." She can barely feel her limbs at this point and she just wants him to hold her. "Come 'ere." It takes all her energy to raise her hand. He smiles and cleans her up a bit before laying on the floor next to her and kissing her lips.

"Merry Christmas to us." Cam's feeling like the energy he had early has been sapped out of him now. Kissing her feels lazy and happy and just full of contentment from both sides. "Have you ever..." He knows that she hasn't with him, but...

She just shakes her head. Her fingers rake through the short hairs at the base of his neck and pull him back in for another kiss. "Only you." She's starting to regain use of body parts she was sure she lost in that last orgasm. "We should clean up and shower..."

Neither of them want to move but Wendy and Frank will be back in a couple hours and it would be good to make sure the living room wasn't heady with the smell of their love making.

"You go get in the shower, I'll get this stuff in the washing machine and come join you." He gets up first, making sure he's steady on his feet. Then he helps her up and she kicks off her panties. His hands start touching her everywhere he can reach as he pulls her in tightly for another kiss. The one kiss turns into a heavy, deep, make out session until they are both breathless again. "Okay, baby, really, go up. Save your hair for me to wash."

She laughs but just grins her agreement at him. The truth is she likes her hair washed by him just as much as he does.

He makes quick work of the laundry, throwing all the blankets and the pillow cases in the wash and then adding their pajamas and Vala's underwear in just for good measure. Wouldn't really do to have Adria discover that.

He hears the water running and the bathroom is already steaming up when he steps into the room. He shuts the door so it won't be chilly when they get out, and pulls back the curtain to join her.

As soon as she turns to him he advances, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her. "That was... the hottest damn thing..."

He can't even finish the sentence, he has to kiss her again.

She giggles, a little shy, cheeks pinks - maybe from the heat of the water but he thinks it's more. "It was a first," she says again, grinning sheepishly.

"So what did it feel like?" He reaches past her and grabs the shampoo, squirting it into his hand.

"Wet..."

"Well, that much I could guess," he laughs. He starts to lather up her hair, loving how it feels in his hands, even wet. "Better than normal?"

"Just... different," she says. "It was intense. Like my body just... couldn't stop."

"Funny, I think our bodies were on the same wavelength there," Cam says, remembering how good it felt.

"I think we always are," she says.

He nudges her forward so he can rinse the suds out of her hair.

She returns the favor and grabs the soap to wash him - not his hair, but his chest and back. She loves feeling the muscle there, solid and warm, teasing the hair on his chest. They've both got a sense of calm about them now and he thinks as long as they're still coasting on this with each other they're invincible.

"Did you light a candle?" She asks.

"Air freshener." He grabs the soap and washes her now too, lathering up between his palms and then sliding down to rub the soap into the still tender skin between her legs.

She gasps and her knees go weak instantly. "Oh, I can't - too much- don't-"

He moves his hand away, kissing her ear. "I won't. You can rinse."

She lets out a breath. "Not that I'm opposed to trying that again at a future date..."

"It's good to know I have such a willing wife." Cam uses the conditioner in her hair while she rinses herself.

She grins over her shoulder and turns to wrap her arms around his waist. He doesn't miss a beat in her hair - making sure to get it all coated in the moisturizer. She kisses his chin and licks at the water droplets there. She ducks her head back into the spray to rinse when he's finished playing.

"You should wash my hair everyday." Vala knows that wouldn't work well for either of them getting anywhere on time. When he plays with her hair it turns into shower sex more often then not.

Cam gives her a wry grin and just continues to work the conditioner out of her hair. After he's done he flips them and quickly washes his own hair. "We both know that wouldn't work."

"It would get me laid everyday." He's gleaming at her, hungry eyes sweeping over her form. It makes her feel good that he still looks at her like that.

Cam grips her chin and holds her still and covers her lips with his. "If you want to get laid every day, I can work on that." He slants his mouth over hers and slides his tongue between her lips. "Or you can call Teal'c."

She's giggling against his mouth and he loves it. The fact that she can play again. So much healing has gone on in the last sixteen hours.

"He's got quite the stamina..." The look she gets makes her pull herself closer and press her breasts flat against his chest. "Or so I hear."

"As long as it stays water cooler rumor. I'm alright with that." Cam growls before lightly slapping her ass and nibbling on her lower lip. "Water's gonna get chilly soon. You done?" She nods and he turns it off. He hands her her towel before stepping out for his own and they both dry off in peace.

"Cameron?" He hums his acknowledgement. "It was really, really good." He grins, flushing a bit and nodding.

"How long 'til the kids get home?" He doesn't want to be caught naked with Vala... again.

She checks the clock in the corner. "About thirty minutes. We should eat some lunch."

"I'll go flip the laundry if you make some lunch." She nods and throws her robe on before opening the door to go get dressed. He catches her by the elbow and pulls her back to him first. "I love you."

They kiss. It's slow and lengthy and leaves both of them breathless. "Love you too." Vala's at the door before she turns to speak again. "I'm glad you got that first."

He can see her swallow as she says those words. "I'm glad I was able to give it to you." She gives a shy smile and starts to leave again. "Vala." When she looks back, again. "The rest don't matter anyway."

She just winks at him and goes to get dressed.


	20. Chapter 20

They're fully dressed and the living room is both clean and fresh-smelling by the time Wendy and Frank arrive with the kids.

The first thing Lyra does is inspect the present pile to see if it's grown. She holds up each box and with her name on it and asks "Are you sure Santa didn't bring this one early?"

It takes the time-honored tactic of distraction to lure her away. Wendy and Frank are staying the rest of the day, until they all have dinner and open family presents that night. Of course, Wendy goes straight to the kitchen and starts laying out her plan of attack for dinner. Vala tries to protest that she has things to cook, but Wendy refuses. She's been pampering Vala, in the kindest way possible, since the miscarriage - meals brought over, long visits or shopping trips or phone conversations on those days when she's home alone.

Vala dearly loves how much Wendy and Frank both (but especially Wendy) have welcomed her into the family. She also doesn't require that much pushing before she abandons the kitchen, leaving it in Wendy's capable hands, and goes out to rejoin her family.

They're watching some sort of movie. There isn't much space on the couch - Cam and Frank at either end, Lyra, Tyler, and Roger piled between them. Vala goes over and sits on Cam's lap, tucking herself into him. He wraps an arm around her and she rests her head on his shoulder. Lyra looks over at her and immediately wants in on the cuddle, worming her way closer to Cam. Rocket notices and it starts a chain reaction. He sort of lurches forward without actually getting up and rests his head on Vala's lap.

Vala scratches her fingers through Rocket's fluffy fur. "Missed you, boy," she says. He looks up at her with big puppy eyes, like he's agreeing.

"We hugged him for you," Lyra tells her. She's moving away already, having gotten her hugs and satisfied that urge. She climbs back over to Tyler to resume bugging him.

"Thank you, darling," Vala says.

"Daddy, did you hug Mommy for us?" Tyler asks.

"Yeah, did you?" Lyra adds. "Three times, one for each of us. Oh, and one for Rocket."

"Oh, Daddy hugged me, all right..." Vala winks at Cam. "Lots and lots."

Frank gives Cam a knowing look and Cam has to remind himself that he's an adult and he's allowed to... hug... his wife, without being embarrassed about it.

He still blushes a little.

xxxx

The day is filled with laughter, movies and video games, prying children away from presents, and family time. By the time Wendy pronounces dinner ready they've all worked up an appetite. They sit around their dining table and eat. Lyra tries to inhale her food until Vala informs her that presents won't be opened until everyone is through, not just her. She sulks then, but only for a moment, because she's too excited to be grumpy for long.

xxxx

After the everyone has eaten and the kitchen has returned to order everyone gathers around the tree. Lyra and Tyler are excited beyond measure they are both practically trembling with it. Rocket picks up on the energy and starts racing around the two of them as they bounce around the living room.

"Who's gonna play Santa?" Cam asks as he comes in - last to arrive - after putting up the last of the dishes.

"MEDADDYME!" Lyra squeals and runs over to him. Cam lifts her into the air, ignoring the pain in his body as he does it.

He twirls her around and then hugs her close. "Are you sure you can handle it, little one? You're the baby, aren't you?"

"I'm very advanced for my age, daddy." She's so matter-of-fact with him that he suppresses a grin. "I can do the responsible present giving."

"Well, alright pumpkin." He sets her down and she scrambles to the tree. Cam finds Vala holding the big arm chair as her own, walks over, pulls her out and sit in it. She's back on his lap, but doesn't seem to mind. It's never bothered her to show so much affection in front of anyone, let alone his parents. For some reason Cam still feels like he's breaking some sort of rule. But he's married to this woman. His mother loves it, he's sure that she's proud of how she brought him up. To treat his wife with love and respect and he should be happy to show all of that to her. But it's still just awkward.

Lyra hands out presents to everyone and then they take turns opening them. She of course gets to go first. It's a toy dinosaur from her brother and she tears it out of the packaging and shows it to everyone. It's already named Rocket Two and the dog seems most interested in it. Probably for chewing on later. Tyler lets Adria go next and she opens a set of The Chronicles of Narnia. She's a lover of all things fantasy and sci fi and her grandparents had hoped she hadn't had them. Cam confirmed it and so now she was in possession of a brand new boxed set.

Tyler gets a new radio controlled truck. Which Rocket Two can fit in the bed of - that pleases Lyra to no end. Soon she realizes that presents have hit the pause.

"Next!" She makes Tyler stop playing and eyes her grandparents. "Your turn Gramma Grampa!"

They know what the gift is before they even open it but act enthusiastically about it to please Lyra. "Oh how lovely! A family picture to put next to the ones from before."

"I wanted to get a new one with Rocket. Mom said no." She gives her mom a grumpy glare and Vala just miles back.

"We'll get some pictures of you kids with Rocket," Vala promises.

"And Roger, too?" Adria asks. Her cat is stretched out beside her batting at a discarded ribbon. She reaches out to pet him, smiling. She loves Rocket, but Roger is hers.

"As long as you hold him," Vala says, laughing. He and Rocket have only managed an uneasy truce so far.

"Daddy present!" Lyra announces, running over and handing him one. He opens it and makes all the appreciative noises over his new coffee maker.

"It's perfect," he says, kissing Vala on the cheek.

"It's not much..." She's still sad she didn't go get something meaningful for him, but at least he'll use the coffee maker.

"The children have a present for you," Wendy says, looking hesitant. "They made this last night. It was their idea..."

Cam's curious at what's making his mother sound so odd about it. Adria goes and gets a wrapped box and hands it to them. "It's for both of you," she says. "So open it together."

They tear the wrapping off together and Vala uses her nail to slit the tape holding the plain white box shut. Inside is a photo album. Vala smiles immediately, opening it up. It's more of a scrapbook on the inside - photos of all three children through the years, starting with baby photos, photos of them toddling around, birthdays and Christmases... it's obviously which pages were done by which children. There are fingerprint glue smudges in some places, scrawling drawings in some and Adria's neater handwriting captioning.

Vala's already getting teary eyed as she looks through but then she comes to the last page - there's only one picture on it, a light green pattered frame cut out around it. It's Vala's last sonogram picture before she lost the baby, a blur of black and white but she knows what it is.

Cam looks at his mother, realizing why she'd looked worried.

Tyler, Lyra, and Adria are all watching Vala cry, too. Cam can see Lyra's and Tyler's confusion, and Adria growing upset. "It was my idea, Mom," she says. "I didn't mean to make you cry."

Vala wipes at the tears that are coming more quickly now. "No, darling, it's lovely..."

She struggles to smile and Cam knows it really is touching to her - painful, too, perhaps too soon to really love it, but it's still something her children did for her and she wants them to know she appreciates it.

Cam rubs her back, letting his fingertips just glide over the planes of her shoulders and up and down her spine. He's trying to bring her back to a place without pain and only joy. The sight of the baby they just spent last night working though... It brings her back to a place he isn't sure she can handle. Then she looks up at him and he knows. He knows that she's alright. She's made her choices, despite the fact that she still feels betrayed by her body, she's come to accept it for what it is.

He brushes his lips against her ear. "You alright, baby?" She nods against his mouth.

She opens her arms and motions for her kids to come give her a hug. "Come here, my babies." they quickly race over and pile into her arms, onto their laps."I love you all very much."

Cam's hugging them all too. He whispers to her again. "We've got some good kids."

"The best..." She's sniffling against Adria's head. "Hey, aren't there more gifts to be opened?"

Tyler and Lyra wiggle free and race over to find more to hand out. Adria stays a bit, cuddling between the two of them. "It's really okay?"

"It's perfect, baby girl." She kisses her head. "Perfect."


	21. Chapter 21

Wendy and Frank leave late and all the kids are yawning as they are ushered up to their beds.

"We can sleep with you and mommy tonight?" Lyra looks hopeful and Tyler seems to latch onto that thought. Even though he's going to be nine in a couple months when he's tired cuddling with his mother is the only thing he wants.

"You three are getting too big to all sleep with us these days." Cam jokes, definitely wanting his wife to himself on christmas night. "Plus I hear Santa doesn't come unless he can verify you're snug in your beds with visions of sugar plums dancing in your heads."

"What's a sugar plum?" Lyra's grinning. "I think I'll dream about more presents."

Cam tickles her and she goes racing off to her room. "Get in bed, little miss thang! I'll be there to tuck you in in a minute."

"You two." He pulls both Tyler and Adria into a hug. "Merry Christmas. Pancakes for breakfast?"

"Sounds good, Dad." Adria squeezes him tight before heading off to her room with a Merry Christmas wished back. She catches her mother on her way up and gives her a hug as well.

Tyler scales up Cam and hugs him around the neck. "I want waffles!"

"Oh do you!" Cam swings him around. He's close to getting to heavy to do that too easily. He's broadening and moving from his ripcord strength to bulk. "You gonna wake up early and help make them?"

"Don't think so." Tyler slides down smiling. Dimples on his cheeks and Cam sees the handsome man that's in his future. "Think I'll sleep in."

"Yeah... On Christmas morning? I bet Lyra has you up and out of bed." Cam ruffles his hair as Vala joins him after getting Addy off to bed. "Tyler here wants waffles for breakfast."

"That sounds doable." Vala pulls her son into her arms and holds him tight. "I love you, my boy. Merry Christmas."

"Love you too, mom." He turns and then adds. "And you too, dad."

Cam puts an arm around Vala. "Love you lots, son." He leads her down to Lyra's room after they watch Tyler's door shut. "She wants to sleep with us tonight... I told her-"

"No, I hope." Vala loops her arm around his waist and the other rests on his front as they head into Lyra's room.

Cam nuzzles her hair, inhaling the scent. The citrus still smells strong even hours later. It brings back memories from the night before and he moans against her ear. "Better believe it."

They both tuck Lyra in, ensuring that she has her favorite blanket, favorite pillow positioned just right, favorite stuffed animal and sippy cup of water beside her bed so she doesn't have to make that long journey into the bathroom if she gets thirsty.

She asks them about a million questions, everything from the logistics of Santa's bag holding the toys she wants and where reindeer come from and how time zones work... Cam and Vala fumble through answers trusting that in a few years when it all makes sense she'll remember the presents not the misleads and not blame them for it.

They finally enforce a last call on questions and then each give her a kiss goodnight and beat a hasty retreat before her little mind comes up with something else to reel them back in.

"You know," Cam says, once their bedroom door is shut. "I don't remember Addy or Tyler asking that many questions. Where do you think she gets it from?"

Vala starts to pull the covers on the bed down. "Too much television?" She gives him a wide, innocent smile.

"Uh huh. Well, she might not ever be as smart as Addy - my genetics slowing her down, I guess - but she's got one hell of a creative mind, so I think she'll do just fine."

Vala's smile dims slightly and Cam realizes he's said something to upset her. She catches the concern on his face and shakes her head, though. "Just thinking of their present to me. I can't believe they did that..."

"Might have been a little soon, though," Cam says.

Vala shrugs, getting under the covers but still sitting up while Cam crosses the room and joins her. She turns so that she's sideways facing him, shoulder leaning against the headboard. Cam angles himself the same way. "Perhaps, but they meant well. And that... makes a difference."

"They love you. You're an amazing mom."

Vala reaches out and takes his hand - just his hand, and Cam lets her set the pace here. "They're amazing children. This entire life... my life... some mornings I still wake up and can't quite believe it's true."

"Need me to start reminding you? Better yet, I can just give Lyra permission to come jump on you 'til you wake up every morning. That's a good reminder," Cam jokes.

She laughs a little and squeezes his hand, then goes back to stroking his fingers along hers. "I appreciate the offer but that's not necessary. Most mornings I can just turn over and look at you."

The look she gives him, eyes so soft and open and full of everything she's feeling, almost takes the wind out of him. Every time he's not sure he can love her any more she looks at him like that and he's falling even deeper.

"The feeling is mutual, baby." He leans in and places a soft kiss on her mouth.

She leans into it, drinking him in, just the sweetness of everything, the way their lips fit perfectly - how she can open her mouth a bit and he'll press forward enough to lock in with her. It's instinct now and it gives her a thrill every time she feels it. So natural, so beautiful. Vala scoots closer, and he slides down pulling her with until she's on top of him slightly, now in control of the kiss - and everything else. It's amazing how well he can read her, feel what she needs. Just placing her in command of tonight with a simple movement of their positions and it's all so clear. He wants to make love but he's willing to just kiss, to just hold her, to provide her with whatever she needs above his own desires.

"I've never met a man like you before..." His shrug makes her grin. "In all my time meeting people, seeing what they really are, tearing down their defenses - you're one of a kind, Cameron Mitchell. I'm glad I held on so tightly."

"You held on, huh?" A kiss on the tip of her nose before falling back to the pillow. "I seem to recall me being on the floor with a ring in my hand while someone else walked away..." He's grinning so she knows he's just joking.

Her laugh is sprinkled with joy. "Well, I couldn't make it too easy on you, now could I? I'm worth it." She cups his face and kisses him again before he can answer. Her tongue pushes in and before long their short of breath and panting for air. It doesn't matter she keeps going, the lack of oxygen making everything more acute.

He moans against her mouth. "Want you, baby..." Unsure if that was something she needed or not but he does, so he tells her.

Vala gives them a break, for a second, hot breath mingling between them as she stays close. "You have me." She smiles big, tears of joy sting her eyes. "You're stuck with me forever."

He plays with a strand of hair that's dangling in his view - twisting and twirling, running the silky lock through his fingers. "I suppose I could have done worse..." He chuckles and pulls her back in to kiss more.

She changes the angle, and her tongue concentrates on his, the feel and heat. She's aroused now and no longer feeling any of the depression from earlier. "I want to be on top tonight..." She kisses the side of his mouth before pulling back and kneeling up, tossing her shirt over her head.

He wants to help but gets caught up just watching just watching her, confident and determined, that look of concentration on her face. He's already getting hard just watching her; she does this to him.

And she knows it. She looks down at him and just sees the want there, sees it and likes it. She presses down more firmly and feels him hardening, feels the way he thrusts back up. His hands cup her breasts and squeeze a little, feeling the fullness and the way the nipples tighten and pucker. She lets out a little whine, a noise of want, and he drops his hands to the small of her back and pulls her forward.

"Think Santa will approve of us being a little bit naughty before we put the presents out?"

Vala laughs, deep and throaty. "Santa has a Mrs. Claus, he knows what's naughty and what's nice... I think making each other feel so good qualifies as nice." She sits back up and tugs impatiently on his shirt until he removes it, and then there's a moment of disengaging where they get rid of their pants and she climbs back onto him. She grasps his cock and positions it how she wants, so that when she sits it's right between them. Her fingers tease at the head as it flushes and the skin goes glossy and tight then damp with pre-come. She loves just watching him like this, teasing him. Her eyes flicker from his cock to his face, but he stays quiet and just lets her play.

She wants to taste him but right now even more she wants him inside of her. She rises on her knees and he reaches down to get his cock just where she needs it, letting go as soon as the head is inside of her. His hands fall to the side, fingers curling just behind her knees as he watches himself disappear into her.

She leans forward and plants her hands on his chest, and starts to move. It's quiet, their bodies coming together, a back and forth that feels both familiar and somehow still as mind blowing as the first time.

Cam's fingers trail up and down her thighs. She's nice and tight and wet and he's enjoying just laying here and letting her make love to him.

"You feel... really good..." She leans in and kisses him loving how full she feels in this position, how she's in control of both of their pleasure and she starts to squeeze tight around him on her way up and his thighs are twitching next to her calves as she does it. The flared head of his cock is rubbing perfectly on the spot so deep inside her. She starts to speed up, sweating and breathing heavier, pecking his lips with hers but just holding her check next to his when she can't kiss him because she's so breathless. She loves the moans and grunts and hot wisps of breath that tickle her ear as the rides him.

Small kisses pepper her check as they both fall into a sensual rhythm. She's increasing her motion and his hips are starting to get into it too, not wanting to leave her heat but wanting the friction of it. His hands are gripping her hips now, just for something to hold onto, a way to get some leverage to push back. He's still letting her control the show.

"Baby, you're so hot." She sits up so she can move better and he captures a nipple in his mouth, sucking and licking. She responds by tightening her grip on his cock and he whines as he lets her breast pop free. "Taste so good..."

"Mmmm... Cameron..." They aren't in this position often enough. She needs to take him like this more often. She feels a rush of arousal flood around him at the thought of more sex. It seems the anticipation has increased the feeling in her belly. Heat and wet and sweat and moans. Glorious sex with her husband. She reaches for his hands, taking them from her hips and locking their fingers together and now she's using the force through his forearm. Their fingers hold each others and it's so intimate the with their palms are flattened together, such a sensitive area being stimulated.

Vala leans forward just slightly and her clit starts getting grazed as she moves. Her thrusts get more shallow and quicker. She's close, so very close.

He can feel her body telling him that she's going to come soon. He pulls their arms up, toward the headboard, and gets his hips into the motion, rocking up into her and really hitting his pubic bone against her clit. She's gasping her pleasure with each stroke and he loves the sound, the scent the feel of her tightening around his cock.

"Come for me baby,"

She moans and grunts and then she's gone. She's murmuring his name as if it's a prayer, sweet and loving and ever so grateful. She's still moving but it's less and yet more and Cam doesn't know how to describe it except fucking amazing. His cock throbs and he follows her over that ledge. He's coming inside her. Deep, hard spurts of cum coating her cunt. Everything is hot and everything is full blown sensations.

He keeps her there while they both come down, bodies locked together intimately. He gives her a breathless grin and says, "Merry Christmas?"

"Better than a cookie," she agrees, wiggling a little in a way that makes him gasp.

Cam glances over at the clock. It's only been about twenty minutes. "They're probably not asleep enough yet, are they?"

Vala makes a face. "Probably not. Adria's still reading under the covers, I'm sure."

"Another half hour?" He suggests. "We'll need to kill some time..."

They both glance over at the remote for the television in their bedroom. Vala beats him to it, using sneaky distraction techniques like being naked.

xxxx

After an hour of cuddling, giggling, and making fun of late night television to keep themselves away they decide enough time has passed and they sneak downstairs.

Cam drinks the milk, Vala eats all the cookies, and they spread out a wide array of presents for each of the kids then sit cross-legged on the floor putting things into the stockings before they re-hang them.

It takes almost an hour to arrange everything just how Vala wants, but finally they head back upstairs and get to sleep.

xxxx

Lyra leans over her fathers face, careful not to breathe too hard or she'll be heard. He's still asleep and it's Christmas morning... She's not supposed to go down to see if Santa came yet and it's absolutely killing her... Maybe he will wake up if she is quiet about asking...

"Daddy..." She whispers, looking around to see if anyone else is awake too. So far no sign of her siblings and she knows her mother sleeps like a log. "Daaaaddddddyyyyyyy..." A little louder and she sees him twitch. She starts just a teeny tiny bit louder. "Daddy..."

Cam cracks one eye and tries not to smile at the adorable face that belongs to his youngest baby. "Pumpkin, what time is it?"

"TIme for Santa?" she giggles and her dad groans. "Dunno, I couldn't sleep, daddy."

Cam understands and he pulls her into his arms. "Too excited huh, princess?"

Wiggling in his arms she giggles and nods. "Wake up mommy?"

"Don't think so, sprite. Gotta let your momma get her sleep. Don't want her cranky today, it's Christmas." Cam kisses Lyra's head. "Ty and Addy up yet?"

Lyra just grins and shrugs."I dunnooooo..."

"Why don't you go check." She pops out of his arms. "Quietly, child." She nods and as silently as possible for her she races off to check on her brother and sister.

He tries to drift back to sleep, but soon enough Lyra is back dragging a very tired looking Tyler behind her. "Tyler is awake."

"He sure looks convincing in his wakefulness, honey." Cam pats the bed and Tyler yawns and happily climbs in, but over on his mother's side. Cameron watches as Vala doesn't even awaken just pulls him against her and he falls back asleep. "Why didn't you get those genes, little one?"

She grins wide. "Cause I'm excited!" There is a squeak after her sentence and it makes Cam grin.

"Well, that's one of two, what about Addy?"

Lyra shakes her head. "She was cranky and told me to go back to bed. That Santa doesn't like too much hyperactivity in the morning."

"Awww, shucks, Lyra. Guess you better just go back to sleep for a bit."

She leans her face on the side of the bed and pouts. "But, daddy, I'm not tired."

"Climb in with dad and just rest for a bit then?" She seems to think that's an okay solution cause she scrambles in and curls up by his chest. Soon Cam hears the door open again and Adria is standing there looking every bit as cranky as Lyra said and Cam lifts his hand beckoning her into their bed too. He's graced with a big, Vala-esque grin and soon the whole family is cuddled under the blankets.

They manage another hour of sleep before Lyra's constant squirming has them all awake and unable to go back to sleep. "Okay, all of you go brush your teeth then meet at the stairs. We can all go down together."

Vala takes Lyra into their bathroom to brush hers and Tyler and Adria race for the hall bathroom.

Five minutes later, there are fresh-breathed children waiting eagerly... even Adria, who is more awake now. Cam glances at Vala. "What do you think, honey? You still sleepy? Think we should wait-"

"Noooooo!" Lyra wails. "Daddy, nooooooo!"

Cam reaches down and musses her already messy bed head. "Okay, go for it."

All three kids take off running downstairs, followed by Cam and Vala holding hands.

They spend half an hour digging through presents, new toys and books and clothes and goodies from Santa. After plenty of pictures to send to the grandparents, Cam and Vala head into the kitchen to make their Christmas morning breakfast of waffles and eggs and bacon that they end up eating off of plates in the living room because none of the kids can part with their new toys for long enough to sit at the kitchen table.

"This is so cool," Adria says for the millionth time, curled up on the couch with her new tablet computer. Lyra is vrooming around the room with her new toy airplane and Tyler runs around spastically reacting to the video game onscreen that he's playing.

"The coolest!" Tyler says, stopping to throw a few punch motion that the game bar reads and translates onscreen. "Dad, you gotta come play me on this, it's awesome!"

"VROOM MOMMY VROOOOM!" Lyra scampers in front of Vala and steals a slice of bacon off the plate, cramming it into her mouth.

"Eat, or Santa will reclaim all of the presents and give them to your mom instead," Cam announces. There's huffing and sighing and whining but once they actually pause in their activities they all realize they're hungry anyway.

After breakfast Vala plays the video game with Tyler, showing him some moves that she definitely didn't learn on this planet that confound the system and rack him up plenty of points. Lyra's moved on to playing with her new kitchen set and Cam takes a seat by Adria on the couch, putting his arm around her. He's glad when she leans into him comfortably. "Whatcha doing there?"

She turns the tablet toward him. "It's a game. It's all about lines and angles and shapes and stuff." She makes a few motions with the stylus and the screen shifts. "See? I beat the level. Wanna try?"

"Maybe if you set it back to beginner," Cam says, grinning. He's not bad at math himself; had to learn it all in order to get to fly the fast planes, but it's been a long time since he was as immersed in it as Adria is. She resets the game and shows him how to play.

It seems like it's still morning when Cam look at his watch so when it says two pm he's surprised. Everyone's been entranced by their new toys and games and it's been fairly calm and quiet. He hears Addy's stomach growl from where she's still curled up against him - fascinating him with how good she is at that game.

"Sounds like it might be lunch time?" His own stomach grumbles it's vote and he kisses Adria's head and then frees himself to go in make them lunch.

Vala's in there with Lyra coloring with her in one of her new books a line up of all her new toys also playing along. He walks over and kisses Lyra on the head and bends over to catch Vala on the mouth. "Baby, what do you want for lunch?"

"MACARONI AND CHEESEEEEEE!" Lyra bursts out.

Cam chuckles, "Wasn't asking you, I know that's what you want." He ruffles her hair while heading to dig out food to make.

"Sandwiches are fine. We had a pretty big breakfast." Lyra is giving her a begging face and her hands are clasped together groveling. "We could have mac and cheese too, I suppose." She grins at her little girl and then tickles her.

The sound of Lyra's fit of laughter brings Tyler in to see what's up. He pops over and helps his mom play the tickle monster and they al end up giggling.

"Hey, slugger, what do you want for lunch?" He just gets a shrug, he's an easy one. He'll down about anything. "Sounds good." Cam pulls out the left overs and starts making turkey and ham sandwiches. heats up some potatoes and puts in a cup of easy mac for Lyra.

Not wanting to feel left out Adria moves from the couch to the kitchen and sits opposite of Lyra so she's not disturbed but still in the family time. "I'll have anything, daddy." She offers not looking up from her game.

"What level are you on, darling?" Vala's curious. Sam recommended that application for Adria and said it would take her some time. But Vala wasn't convinced it would eat up as much of her free time as Sam thought.

"Twenty." Pauses to make another move. "Almost twenty one."

Cam and Vala both share a look over that fact. There are over a hundred levels but she's only been at it for a few hours.

"Are they getting more difficult?" Cam's watching over her shoulder again pausing his lunch preparation.

Adria just shrugs. "I think that they thought that they were when they made it but it's all the same concepts just different ways of looking at things. Sometimes it's harder to see, but so far the actual solving hasn't been too bad."

"Our daughter the genius." Vala gives her a big smile and Cam just shakes his head going back to making lunch.

He's smiling the whole time though. He's imaging himself working side by side with that girl sooner than anyone anticipates. She'll probably graduate from college the same time she graduates High school at this rate.

"She's a smart ass that's for sure."

"Daddy swore!" Lyra points and giggles. But he brings over her mac and cheese and she switches to eating quickly enough that he just lets it drop.

Slowly he passes out lunch plates to everyone. Thanks you's are given as the food is received and he's smiling as he sits next to Vala to eat. Despite everything that's happened to them recently they're still a family. Still strong in the love they have for each other. It makes him smile, hard. He sees Vala grinning back at him, as if she can read his mind. At this point she probably can.

"Yeah," She just replies.

Cam gives her a look and she laughs a bit. The kids all have confused looks but they're mostly used to their parents. "Yeah? What?" He responds.

"We're all pretty great."

"The best, Daddy." Lyra bursts out.

He knows it's true. They are the best. And he wouldn't trade any of it.

The End


End file.
